Companions
by Pookie2
Summary: Vignettes featuring The Courier's traveling party.  Part 1 of the "All the Things You Are" storyline.  Rated for language, violence and mild sexual innuendo.
1. Jingle, Jangle, Jingle

Consider this an advent calendar for Christmas! There will be one new story a day for 24 days and a bonus chapter on Christmas Day. I hope you like it!

* * *

"You look like a fucking idiot."

"Fuck you," Gunner sneered while looking in the broken shard of mirror in his hand. That idiot Shank couldn't possibly understand the subtle genius of the lime green Mohawk he now sported. He carefully smoothed it up again as the gel started to dry.

Shank was glowering at the fire a few feet away from his feet. He finally went back to picking at the scab on his arm with a knife. He was bored, hungry, horny and getting frustrated at the lack of people on the road as of late. With a grunt, he eventually gave up on the scab and threw his knife in to the ground by the fire.

"This is bullshit!"

"What now?" Gunner was giving him a sour look, finally looking away from his mirror. Shank threw his hands in the air.

"I'm fucking bored! There isn't any goddamned thing to do and we ne…" he trailed off as he saw something floating down the road in their direction, "What the hell is that?"

Gunner looked down the road and squinted, "Oh, that's one of those radio-robot-things. I've seen 'em before. Used to be Enclave," Shank was already pulling out his rifle.

"I bet you a Nuke I can hit it," Gunner snorted.

"You're on."

Shank squinted into the sights of the rifle and squeezed off a round. It knocked into the robot, causing it to swerve wildly off its path. After a moment, it righted itself, though now it was smoking.

"Ha ha, no good," Gunner laughed, the robot was close enough for the two raiders to hear its sound system.

"What do you mean, 'no good,' I hit it."

"It isn't down, doesn't count."

"Oh fuck you," Shank shot at the robot again, hitting it a second time. This time, it went down. "Ha! You owe me."

"Hmph," Gunner begrudgingly started towards his pack for one his last two Nuka-Colas. As he opened the flap on the bag, he heard mechanical sputtering and looked up. The robot had come back online and was floating down the road again, although not very steadily.

"Ha HA! No Nuke for you. That little shit's tougher than you, too."

"Fuck you."

*.*.*

Javier glowered in the direction of the road he had been staring at for three days. He was almost to Primm, which meant payment and another job. This particular stretch of road had been deserted to the point of tedium.

The traveler had resigned himself to further boredom, until he caught sight of a hunk of metal further along the stretch of asphalt. Walking up to it, he found it to be the remains of an eyebot. Javier whistled, picking up the heavy robot. There were a few bullet holes in its hull, and the oil on the ground looked fairly fresh.

The man shrugged and stuffed the robot into his pack. Someone was bound to want it.

*.*.*

A door creaked open to the dark entrance of the Mohave Express and a shadow slowly stalked in. The figure crept around the two room building carefully, 9mm clutched in their hand. Seeming to be satisfied with the lack of people in the building, the figure stood and looked around the room.

She stopped at the counter at the sight of the broken robot strewn upon it. Holstering her gun, The Courier pulled apart the broken casing of the machine and surveyed the damage. She pulled a few parts out of her pack and started to repair the robot. After a few minutes, she replaced the casing and reinitiated the machine, then dove behind the counter, in case it blew up.

She poked her head up past the counter when she heard whirring and a few beeps, and found the eyebot hovering above her. Smiling at her handiwork, The Courier gestured towards the door.

"Shall we?"

The robot chirped at her and followed her lead.


	2. Heartaches by the Number

I probably should have mentioned that this story contains spoilers...but duh.

* * *

"…And he had a long fucking dick!" the woman sitting next to The Courier slurred. She had just shoved a few caps toward the bartender after snatching the whole bottle of whiskey out of the woman's hand. The Courier hadn't expected Cass' last statement and had snorted, laughing loudly enough to startle a group of NCR soldiers who were in the corner booth of the bar.

Cass started laughing at the glaring troopers and The Courier's snorting. After the two calmed down the caravaneer looked at the younger woman nursing her sarsaparilla. The older woman caught sight of a nasty scar on the younger's forehead.

"Shit, what happened to your head?" Cass saw the girl go red when she asked and immediately put a hand to her forehead.

"Uh…trouble with some…guys I met," the girl didn't look happy about the subject, but Cass was too far gone to care.

"Aw, it's not so bad. You should have seen my dad, he'd been shot up more times than you though. Even had a metal plate in his head," the girl was looking steadily more uncomfortable as the conversation went on, "He used to say whatever didn't kill you made you stronger, but not prettier!" she dissolved into giggles and took another drink.

The Courier was rubbing her forehead with a sad look on her face when Cass slammed her bottle on the counter of the bar, startling the younger woman.

"Aw don't look so sad, you can barely see it," she laughed again, "Some guys even get off on that kinda stuff. Well, the weird ones anyway," The Courier put her head in her hands as Cass laughed until she nearly choked. The caravaneer stood, throwing more caps on the table.

"It's on me tonight, kid," said Cass as she stumbled out the door. The Courier looked glumly at her drink. After a few more minutes, she left the bar to find a place to sleep.


	3. Caravan

"Play it again."

"For the love of Christ! No, I'm not playing the tape again. My Three of Hearts finishes this caravan," The Courier glowered at Boone as she slapped down the card on the ground. The sniper reached over to thumb on the holotape sitting on a rock a few feet away from the pair, but The Courier slapped the tape off the rock and out of reach.

Boone glared at her for a moment, then looked back at his cards. He put a four of clubs on the end of the "Caravan" closest to him without a word. The Courier looked at the card, and then the sniper, finally looking back at her cards. She had no clue how to play Caravan, and she was fairly certain that Boone didn't either. The holotape that Ringo had recorded for her detailing the game's rules was now out of reach on the other side of the rock.

Further away from the tape, on the other side of the fire, was a .308 rifle that had been painted with desert camouflage they had found near Ranger Station Foxtrot. She had called dibs on it the moment she saw it. Boone argued that she never even used rifles and it would be a waste to have her hold on to it. The Courier suggested they play for it, and they both agreed to a round of Caravan.

Keeping her face neutral, the girl laid down a seven of spades on one the piles. _He doesn't know how to play either, I'm sure of it._

"You can't do that. That caravan's descending, not ascending," Boone said, pointing to the card she had just put down.

"What? No it isn't…" The Courier trailed off, not sure if the order mattered. She looked up at the sniper, suspiciously, but he had an impenetrable poker face. She retracted the card and replaced it with a four of clubs. Boone looked over the piles and put a king of hearts on the caravan the Courier had just added to.

"I thought you couldn't put an ascending card on that caravan…"

Boone looked up. "You can put a king if you're closing the caravan."

"No you can't, and that doesn't add up anyway."

"You can if it's a king."

"No. That's a queen you're thinking of."

The sniper looked down at his cards, then at the caravan piles, then groaned loudly.

"This is idiotic, neither of us knows how to play. Just trade me for the damn gun," the Courier tried not to show the grin that was pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"Fine… What do you have?" She knew she had laid on the innocent routine too thick when his eyes narrowed at her. Without a word, he dug through his pack and pulled out a bottle. He put the Nuka-Cola Victory she had been coveting in her hands and walked over to the rifle, the card game forgotten.

The Courier grinned from ear-to-ear as she picked up the cards and put them into her pack. She leaned against a rock near the fire and looked at the glowing orange-red bottle. She suddenly frowned, hoping Boone wasn't mad at her for her finagling. She looked up to speak to him, but found he had already pulled the .308 apart and was cleaning each piece.

He looked happy enough, so The Courier popped open the bottle cap with her knife and took a sip of the bright liquid. It tasted like lightning bolts, and she sputtered on the first sip. The second drink was infinitely better, however.

"How is it?" Boone's voice broke her out of her flavor-induced stupor and she found him looking up at her.

"You've never had any?" Boone shook his head, and the Courier instantly felt guilty. She got up from her rock and carefully picked her way past the rifle pieces, then sat next to the sniper, handing him the bottle. He took the bottle and took a swig. He coughed and made a face like he was drinking turpentine. He handed back the bottle.

"I got the better side of the deal." 


	4. A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening

How horrid of me, I didn't realize we were in the midst of Hanukkah! Happy Hanukkah, enjoy five more days of presents from me! :D

* * *

"All right, wait here a minute. I'm going to talk to this King guy," The Courier grinned at Arcade when he made a face. "I'll only be a minute."

"Not nice leaving a good looking guy like me unescorted."

"Ha. Sit tight, I'll be right back." The girl walked into the building, leaving Arcade alone in the middle of Freeside. He looked around, seeing a few junkies shuffling around the dark street. The doctor thought about going inside the building, the area wasn't particularly friendly looking. He didn't move for the door, however, as he didn't want to screw up The Courier's mojo…or whatever.

From what Arcade knew, the Kings were generally decent, but the growing violence against the NCR refugees was starting to become troubling. Arcade was sure the whole town knew The Courier's unofficial but firm allegiance to the NCR. If they didn't know it by reputation, the girl's habit of hanging around with Boone probably made it abundantly clear to everyone. The doctor grew concerned that The Courier may have walked into trouble, given the King's disdain for the NCR, which may include unofficial supporters.

He thought about walking in again, but held off, hating the idea of blowing whatever plan she had cooked up. The Courier had a knack for getting into trouble for sure, but also usually found a way out of it just as easily.

His thoughts were interrupted by one of the low-level Kings walking out of the front door of the building. He gave Arcade a look as he leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. After a moment and a few puffs, he spoke up. "That your girl who just wandered in?"

Arcade stiffened at the question. "She's not 'my girl' but why do you ask?"

The man, who looked like he was in his mid-twenties, just like The Courier, shrugged. "Dunno. Wouldn't let a girl like that wandering around alone," Arcade frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, she's making quite an impression on the King, that's for sure."

Arcade blanched, still not sure what that meant, but didn't like the sound of it. He was about to go for the door when it opened. The Courier walked out with a grin on her face.

"We're gonna go get a bodyguard."

The Courier ignored Arcade's puzzled look as she started down the street.


	5. Somewhere Along the Way

"Get out of here, get me some money tooooooo," The Courier sang to herself as she pasted the back of a poster. She then slapped it against the abandoned shack they had found on the road to Freeside. Boone thought about questioning the reason for putting a poster on a dented, ripped apart shack in the middle of nowhere, but decided against it. The girl always managed to come up with an explanation for her occasionally erratic behavior. She was currently admiring her handiwork.

"See, imagine you're all shot up and a radscorpion stung you and you're nearly dead, right?" she started explaining without prompting. She looked over to Boone, who was scanning the area for trouble and trying to ignore her. "So you're half dead and a storm's coming and you find the only piece of shelter in the area." She gestured to the ruined shack. "Then you're all 'Thank god, I'll live to see another day!' and BAM, NCR poster. Every time you think about the shack that saved your life, you'll also think about how the NCR COULD be helping you out too."

Boone was watching a few coyotes as they crept toward them. They weren't close enough to be trouble, yet.

The Courier touched up the corners of the poster with extra paste. "Anyway, at two caps a poster, we'll be loaded in time to get to the Strip and blow it all." Boone raised an eyebrow at her. She grinned. "They wanted to pay me in NCR money, but I told the guy to stuff it, and they modified my contract. We just need to go to an NCR camp or base or something… Are there any bases on the way?"

"McCarren or Camp Golf…" Boone muttered, hand starting to go for his rifle. The coyotes were starting to walk up to them.

"Oh good. We just need to show them my log and my contract, then they'll pay us." she scribbled something in her notebook as she spoke. Closing it, she looked up and saw the coyotes coming their way.

"HEY, GET OUTTA HERE, ÀNDALE!" Both the Coyotes and Boone were startled as she shouted. The coyotes ran off and Boone blinked at The Courier as she calmly returned the book to her pack.

*.*.*

The Courier hummed to herself as she rooted through a honey mesquite plant. Just a few more pods and she'd have enough to make grilled mantis legs for dinner. She had nearly picked the plant clean (and it looked like someone else had been rooting through it before her), but there had to be more. She leaned in on her tip-toes seeing a pod dangling inside the particularly large plant.

The girl continued her search, oblivious to the giant radscorpion creeping up to her. It was about three yards away when she heard several loud cracks of a rifle going off. She nearly lost her balance, dropping all the pods she had collected. Turning she saw the monstrous creature, now dead.

Boone reloaded his rifle, checking the area for further threats. The Courier, shaking off her shock, bent down to collect the dropped pods. Depositing them into her pack, she went over to the radscorpion. She looked at Boone expectantly. He sighed and drew his machete, handing it over to her.

The Courier began carving into the huge creature, getting that weird grin on her face she always got when hacking into things. Boone looked around again, spotting another giant radscorpion headed their way. He didn't bother to warn the girl, who was still oblivious and now knee deep in radscorpion carcass. Instead, he sighed heavily and opened fire.

*.*.*

The Courier was about to pull the trigger of her 9mm when the giant ant she was aiming at exploded. She lowered her gun and glared at Boone, who was also lowering his rifle. He gave her a puzzled look.

"What?"

"You're supposed to be my spotter, right?" The man nodded. "Which means you're supposed to tell me when you see enemies coming at us, not just blow them apart!"

"Fine," the sniper grunted, giving the area one more scan before slinging his rifle over his shoulder. The Courier gave him a look and sighed, and they continued down the road.

An hour or so later, they came upon a run-down looking building. Boone slowed his strides, hand going for his rifle.

"Wha? What is it?" The Courier squinted in the direction of the building, not really seeing anything.

"There's one," Boone said as he pulled the trigger of his rifle, and The Courier saw a gunman who had been running their way catch a bullet in the neck.

"Hey, you were-"

"There's another one," the sniper said, shooting the next raider coming their way. The brunette put her hands on her hips, glaring at the man.

"You're doing it ag-"

"Another one," Boone shot what looked like the leader of the group. The Courier actually saw the final two gang members, who were coming at them with knives. "Two more," Boone said, taking them both out.

The sniper scanned the area again, then slung his rifle. He looked over to The Courier, who frowned at him.

"What?"

"Oh forget it." She threw her hands in the air and continued down the road. Boone followed silently, keeping an eye out for trouble.

*.*.*

"BoooooOOOONE!"

The sniper turned as he heard The Courier cry out. She was running his way, two lakelurks following. Pulling his rifle off of his shoulder, he dropped to one knee, lining up his sights with the closest lakelurk.

He didn't pull the trigger, however, as his traveling companion was in the way of the shot. Boone ground his teeth. Her getting in the way was becoming a way of life. The lakelurk shot a sonic beam, which the girl barely dodged. Boone swung his rifle over to the other creature and blew its head off.

The Courier had almost caught up to him by the time he looked to the other lakelurk. The Courier was in his sights again. By the time she ran past him, the monster was too close to get a good shot. Boone quickly slung his rifle back over his shoulder and pounced on the monster, drawing his machete.

The creature had ignored the man until his first swipe nearly took off its head. It turned to him and swiped a claw, catching his arm. Boone grunted and took another swing at the lakelurk, but it dodged the oncoming blade. The creature let out another sonic burst, which hit the sniper point-blank in the face. He felt his legs give out under him as his vision faded.

When Boone opened his eyes again, he saw blue sky with gray clouds. His head was resting on his pack, and the Courier was bandaging the cut on his arm. He glanced around and spotted the now-dead lakelurk, it's body full of bullet holes. He made a move to sit up, but his companion held a hand on his chest.

"Stay put for a minute. That blast probably screwed up your equilibrium. Just rest for now." He gave up trying to move and looked the girl over for injuries She seemed to be untouched. She gave him a mischievous look. "You need to keep your head down when you're up close. I couldn't get a shot in."

Boone glared daggers at her.


	6. Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered

I hope you're all enjoying these. A lot of these stories come from actual experiences in the game (mainly Boone blowing stuff up while I picked flowers). Hey, write a review if you're feeling it. If not, then at least enjoy!

* * *

"Two _thousand_ caps to get into The Strip?" Veronica gaped at The Courier. "And we've only got half?" The Brotherhood scribe frowned at the other girl, who shrugged apologetically.

"We'll just have to drum up some money. It won't be too hard…"

Veronica sighed loudly, but got a mischievous look in her eyes. "We should look around Freeside. You know, find some odd jobs, bat our eyelashes at wealthy Brahmin barons, that kind of thing."

"We should split up. We can do more damage that way," The Courier added. Veronica nodded in agreement.

"You're not going alone…" Boone said. He and Arcade were standing with the girls on the broken road in front of The Strip's gate.

Veronica shrugged, nonplused by the sniper's comment. "Fine, who goes with who?" The girls both turned to their companions, looking thoughtfully at the pair.

"Why do I feel like a Brahmin at auction?" Arcade said to Boone. Veronica looked at the doctor, then the sniper, then the Courier. She snapped her fingers.

"You should go with Boone. I'll go with Arcade," she said, looking pleased with her decision.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Arcade said suspiciously.

"Easy. If we get in any trouble, I punch it out of existence… No offense, but you're not very 'combatty.'" Arcade had to agree with that. Veronica then turned to The Courier "And you'd better go with Boone, or you'll end up trying to sell RadAway to ghouls and getting your ass beat."

"Hey! No I wouldn't, right Boone?" she looked at the sniper, who didn't say a word. The girl scowled at him. "Fine. Let's go." She stalked off, followed closely by Boone. The other two chuckled quietly as they watched them go.

*.*.*

"Oh wouldn't my parents be so proud of me now," Arcade said as he and Veronica left the Atomic Wrangler. Veronica, however, looked quite pleased with herself. She turned to the doctor, who was cleaning his glasses disdainfully.

"Aw come on, easy money and we're helping out the community."

"I hardly think tracking down new prostitutes for this black hole of society is in fact helping said society…"

"Oh, you complain too much. Now, where are we going to find a ghoul cowboy?" Veronica put a finger to her lip in thought.

Arcade sighed. "I know one."

*.*.*

"All right, let me do all the talking," The Courier said to Boone, grinning. Boone gave her the same look he gave her every time she said that, which was every time she tried to talk someone out of something. They had been asked by the Garrett twins to collect some debts from people in the area.

They wound their way through the street, coming upon the place they had been told to look for their first target. The Courier scanned the area, eyes resting on a well-dressed man. She nodded in his direction to Boone, who nodded back.

Santiago saw them approach and plastered a grin across his face, focusing on the lovely lady walking his way. "Well hello, my dear. What can Santiago do for you?"

The Courier put her hands on her hips. "Stow it, Romeo, we're collecting for the Garrets."

The man blanched at that statement, but recovered quickly. "Why would such a beautiful woman have to concern herself with such mundane things? My dear, Santiago could make you forget the harshness of this cruel world…" He reached to take the girl's hand.

"Hands off," Boone growled, glaring at the other man. Santiago backed up a step, but kept his grin.

"My apologies, I meant no harm to your lady love…"

"Wha- oh, no we're not…I, uh…" The Courier started turning red. "Listen, just give us the damn caps. The Garretts are threatening to put a bounty on you, and I'd rather do this the easy way."

Santiago blanched. "They're what?" He hurriedly produced a handful of caps. "I never thought they'd send anyone out to kill me."

He walked off without another word. Boone and the still blushing Courier looked at each other awkwardly, then started back the way they came.

*.*.*

"You'll be helping people feel better about themselves…" Veronica said, giving Old Ben her best wide-eyed look. He regarded her for a moment, then looked thoughtful.

"I never thought about how it could help people… All right, you win. I'll work for the Garrets." The formerly-retired escort headed for the Atomic Wrangler, leaving Veronica grinning from ear to ear. She turned to Arcade, who looked disgusted.

"This really is revolting you know. The amount they're paying us doesn't seem worth it…"

Veronica waved off the comment. "First off, it's not like we're putting slave collars on them and throwing them to the wolves. They're all consenting adults. Second, I'm sure we're making a heck of a lot more caps than the others. She's probably blown it all on cocktail dresses and hats for herself, and gun polish and fancy sunglasses for Boone."

"I highly doubt it."

"Can it. We're doing great. Now we just need to find a sexbot."

*.*.*

"Do you have any caps to spare?" said Grecks as they approached. The Courier gave the ghoul a pitiful look. They had come to collect his debt for the Garrets, and he was begging them for caps.

"We're collecting for the…" The girl began half-heartedly, but trailed off at the ghoul's horrified expression.

"Oh god, it's the Garretts, isn't it?" He started digging, his pockets, pulling out the few caps he could find. "I didn't think they'd send people after me!" He tried to shove the caps into the girl's hands, but she stopped him.

"No… Forget it. I didn't see you." The Courier turned and began walking away. She glanced at Boone as he followed, giving her a questioning look.

"I'm not taking any more money from desperate people," she replied. The sniper nodded, seeming pleased with her answer.

"The Garretts aren't going to be happy about it…" Boone said as they made their way to the Atomic Wrangler.

"They can stuff it. We'll give them Santiago's money and leave it at that. If they don't like it, they can kiss my ass."

*.*.*

For once, Veronica had nothing to say. Neither did Arcade, for that matter, but that didn't stop the Protectron standing before them.

"Assume the position!" barked the recently reprogrammed and renamed FISTO. After gaping at the robot for a few more moments, Veronica elbowed Arcade.

"Well… go on and try it out."

"What? This was your idea. You try it out!" Neither moved as they stared at the robot, who now waited patiently.

A short time later, Arcade peeked his head out from the door of Cerulean Robotics. Seeing that it was clear, he motioned Veronica and FISTO to follow him.

"Why are you being sneaky?" the scribe asked, watching him attempt to stealthily round the corner.

"Because unlike you, I have enough shame not to want to be seen with a sexbot," the doctor said, peering around the building.

Veronica started laughing as they turned onto one of Freeside's main streets. "Don't want your sparkling reputation tarnished by your robotic tryst?"

The doctor turned around to shoot her a glare, and while not looking, nearly knocked into The Courier and Boone. Arcade looked like he was going to be sick when the girl noticed FISTO.

"Heeeeey, neat! What's with the robot?"

Arcade waved his hands in front of the robot, trying to keep her away. "Nothing. Just bringing him to his new owner!"

"Assume the position!" FISTO burst out, having registered a potential new customer. The Courier's eyes widened at the robot and it's rotating wrist attachments. She took a step back and gave Arcade a slightly horrified look.

"No no no no! It's not what you think!" the doctor cried.

"Oh, don't be a prude. It's just a sexbot," chirped Veronica. Arcade stared at her in horror.


	7. Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On

Boone woke from a deep sleep in a panic. Looking around, he found that he was in a tent and the situation came back to him. He was in a Followers of the Apocalypse tent, the group had offered a tent with cots for The Courier and her companions, as they had been helping out in Freeside while trying to raise the money to get into the Strip.

The sniper had been sleeping better lately than he had in a long time. Unfortunately, it disoriented him. Little things weren't helping the situation, like how there was a ghoul he didn't know sleeping in the cot next to him. That wasn't so surprising, there were a lot of people in the camp, but he was definitely using The Courier's pillow. The green design she had been stitching into it was just visible under the ghoul's head. He'd seen her headshot a Viper who tried to steal that thing. The sniper grabbed the pistol he kept under his mattress and jumped off the cot.

"Hey!" Boone grabbed the ghoul's arm and turned him so he faced the sniper. The man found himself very surprised to find a revolver pointed at his face and the ghoul was very much awake.

"Just back up slowly, buddy," the ghoul, who had a Mexican accent started sitting up as Boone took a step away. The sniper kept the sidearm trained on the other man, who was slowly rising from the bed. Boone saw the Courier's pillow drop to the ground. He glared at the ghoul.

"Where is sh-" he was interrupted by The Courier, who burst into the tent.

"Gooood morning boys-WOAH!" she sputtered as she found Raul and Boone pointing guns at each other. She immediately put herself between the two, "Hey, HEY! Stop it!"

Both men lowered their weapons and looked at the girl, expecting an explanation. She had her hands on her hips and was frowning at Raul.

"I expect this kind of thing out of Boone, but you Raul, tsk tsk," the ghoul holstered his gun.

"Sorry, boss, I've had better alarm clocks than a gun in the face," the brunette turned and looked at Boone, who looked irritated.

"He had your pillow…" The Courier grinned a little, but it faded quickly.

"All right, I'm sorry, this was all my fault. Boone, this is Raul. I met him back in Black Mountain, long story. He was stopping by town on his way home and I told him to crash here for the night. Raul, this is Boone."

"I didn't recognize him without his hat…she's mentioned you," the ghoul didn't seem particularly angry now that the guns were holstered. The Courier noted Boone looked pretty sour still and she retrieved his beret from where it had fallen on the ground. She held it out to him, and he took it, still looking annoyed.

"Come on, at least don't be mad at Raul, this is my fault…it was stupid to have you two sleep in the same tent without mentioning it to each of you. Come on, shake hands and make up."

The two men looked at each other, Raul held out a hand easily, "No hard feelings, eh?"

Boone sighed and shook the ghoul's hand, "Sorry about sticking a gun in your face."

"Likewise."

The Courier grinned at them, her smile turned sheepish as Boone turned to her. Raul picked the girl's pillow off the ground, dusting it off and handed it to her.

"I let him borrow it last night…" The Courier said, turning it over in her hands, "I'm sorry…" Boone's irritation faded and he sighed again.

"Don't worry about it," he shifted, looking a little uncomfortable, "…is there anything to eat?"

The Courier grinned as his demeanor improved, "I'll go poke around. Play nice, guys," she left the tent. Raul regarded the sniper for a moment, a grin starting to form on his face.

"Well, she's got your number, huh?"

Boone, who had been giving the ghoul the benefit of the doubt, glared at him. He gathered his things and left the tent without a word. Raul laughed as he left.


	8. It's Foolish But It's Fun

"That, is an idiotic idea. Why don't we just take the few caps we've got left and give them to the junkies for safe keeping," Arcade was not happy with The Courier, who in turn looked a little surprised at how angry he sounded.

"Geez, we're just going to give it a shot. It's not like we're taking all the money and putting it on black," she replied. The doctor glowered at her. "Don't worry about it. We'll only be gone a little while, and we're only taking a hundred caps."

"One _hundred_ caps?" Arcade was turning red.

"Calm down. You're going to give yourself a fit." The doctor threw his hands up and didn't press the issue further. The girl gave him an apologetic shrug, then faced the rest of the group. "Now, who's coming with me?"

"No thanks," Veronica said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not going back to that sink hole." The Courier gave her a look, suspecting this had something to do with the recent additions to the prostitutes at the Atomic Wrangler, but didn't press it.

"I'll go, Boss. This ought to be good," Raul said.

"The Garretts aren't happy with us…" Boone started. The Courier waved away his concern.

"Aw, we paid up what we did get from Santiago… Besides, these two got them their new harem…" Arcade and Veronica both started blushing, especially when Raul turned to look at them. "You're off the hook anyway. You've got terrible luck," Boone shrugged and stalked off.

"Oh yeah. You got a hole blown out of your head, and he's got the bad luck," Raul said as they left for the casino.

*.*.*

"I've got to tell you, I've been in some decrepit places before…and this is coming form a ghoul, but this is a shit-hole," Raul said to The Courier as she walked toward a Blackjack table.

"You are a whiney date, you know that?" the girl said as she sat down. The ghoul laughed as he sat.

"It's a good thing I'm a cheap date too. A hundred caps isn't going to last us very long."

"Well, it's a good thing I brought four hundred then, huh?" She handed the ghoul a stack of chips.

"Damn, Boss, Arcade's going to have a meltdown if we lose this all…"

The Courier grinned. "How little faith you have in me. Watch and learn." She laid down her bet, and the dealer started throwing down their cards.

*.*.*

"Hey, isn't that the bitch who backed out of collecting those debts for you?" Francine Garrett swung around, looking in the direction one of her bouncers pointed. It was indeed the girl who had given up on her job for the casino owner. Only now she was missing her scowling bodyguard.

"Hey, leave her alone. She isn't so bad," James Garrett added. "She and her buddies helped us out beyond that…" Francine gave her brother a glare. The other Garrett twin didn't notice as he looked at his new robot with a serene grin on his face.

Francine ignored James and redirected her glare back to the girl at the blackjack table. She turned to the bouncer. "They win anything, kick her out." The woman grinned wickedly, "Be careful, it'd be _such _a shame if something happened to her pretty face." The bouncer cracked his knuckles as an acknowledgment and wandered to the casino floor.

*.*.*

Raul watched in amazement at the The Courier, who was grinning at the stack of chips before her. He had lost all his not long after they started playing. The girl had handed him some of her winnings, which he lost soon after again. After that, he had given up, and was now instead watching the girl as she continued winning consistently, despite her terrible playing.

Her lucky streak seemed to be attracting the attention of the management, as the ghoul had noticed a few of the casino goons had started wandering their way. The Courier was fairly oblivious to them, which didn't surprise Raul. She won another hand, to which she whooped and bounced on her chair with delight. Raul saw the goons look at each other, then the girl, and remembered Boone's warning about the Garretts and looked over to the front counter.

He saw the twin proprietors at the counter near the entrance. James was talking to one of the prostitutes, but the woman, Francine, was watching their table with rapt attention. One of the bouncers walked up to the counter, and the woman spoke with him, nodding in the direction of The Courier.

*.*.*

The Courier grinned from ear-to-ear. Her pile of chips was getting steadily larger. She actually had enough to get into the Strip with just her winnings. She lost the hand she had been working, and considered leaving.

Raul nudged her out of her thoughts. "We almost done here, Boss?" The girl looked up at the ghoul, who nodded in the direction the counter, where Francine Garrett was shooting her eye daggers. She looked down at her chip pile.

"Uh…how about one more hand?" The ghoul nodded and leaned back, looking casual. She saw his hand rest near the gun on his hip. The Courier put down a hundred cap bet, and the dealer threw down the cards. A few moments later, she was staring at the dealer's face up queen. Her cards currently added up to sixteen.

She grinned a moment and looked at the dealer. "I'm going to double down." The dealer shrugged, then finished dealing, He busted, but the Courier ended up with 21.

"We'd better go. The locals are getting restless," Raul said as the dealer passed over The Courier's chips. She nodded, tipped the dealer and stood.

"All right, let's go cash out quick," Raul nodded and hurried the brunette to the cashier counter. Soon they were making a carefully-not-too-obvious break for the front door. When they reached the entrance, they found two hired guns barring the way.

"'Scuze me boys." The Courier gave them her prettiest smile "Gotta get my date home by curfew." The men looked at her and Raul blankly. The young woman made a face as she noticed the two bouncers that had come up from behind. She also noticed Raul calmly reaching for his gun.

The goons with their backs to the door suddenly lurched forward as a couple of the Kings shoved the door open. "What the hell? Open up!" one yelled as they tried to push past the bouncers.

The Courier grabbed Raul's hand barreled through the group before anyone could stop them. The two started running for the Old Mormon Camp at full speed.

When they reached their destination, The Courier burst through the doors, laughing.

"No more dates, Boss. You like it too rough for me." Raul was trying to catch his breath while leaning on the pile of sandbags at the guard post. The girl had finished laughing and gave the ghoul a wry grin.

"Oh, we're going on more dates. You're my lucky charm. Aaaaaand…" She pulled out her bag of caps and shook it. "I'll be needing you once we get to The Strip."


	9. Anything Goes

Thanks to the folks who wrote such nice reviews. Also thank you for continuing to read the series, I hope you're holiday season is going well so far. And thanks for the pressure on the last chapter, Technocide :p

* * *

"That's him. That's the one who shot me.." The Courier looked across the room to a group of Chairmen at the very back of the casino floor. Cass looked their way. She had been sour since she arrived at the Strip. It had started all as smiles and promises of good times. But what the Courier hadn't told her was that they were sneaking away from her more protective comrades to confront the man who had shot her.

Cass had been gung-ho for confronting the scumbag, but the younger girl didn't seem to have much of a plan in mind. She sneered at the man in the checkered suit who stood against the far wall of the large room.

"So, go give him a matching hole in the head."

The younger girl looked at Cass, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah, that'll go over really well." The former caravaneer shrugged and took another swig from the bottle in her hand. The Courier had no idea where the whiskey had come from.

"You already told that Wank guy all about it. They've got your back."

"It's Swank, and I don't think Benny's bodyguards are going to be too keen on the idea." The Courier considered her options for a moment while looking across the room at Benny. The women only had the pitifully weak weapons they were able to hide on their persons. Benny and the guards who surrounded him were heavily armed, however. She thought a moment, then a grin slowly formed on her face.

"All right, stay here. I've got an idea…" Cass watched the girl sashay her way up to the group at the end of the room. Benny turned in her direction, then jumped back like he had been burned. Cass bit her lip, hoping the idiot girl wasn't going to get herself gunned down in the middle of the room.

As The Courier talked to the man in the checkered suit, he started to relax from his tense stance. Then, to Cass's surprise, Benny started grinning like an idiot. The Courier was grinning too, and after a few more minutes of conversing, the Chairman handed something to the girl and swaggered off. She came back Cass's way with a smug look on her face.

"What the hell was that?" she asked. The Courier gave her a devilish grin and held up a room key. "Oh, you have got to be fucking with me," the older woman sputtered. "You're not going up there, are you?"

"Oh, you bet I am." She started for the elevator, still wearing her wicked grin. "I've got a date with my murderer."

"Oh that's fantastic, " Cass glowered, taking another pull from her whiskey.

*.*.*

Almost half an hour had passed, and Cass decided she had waited long enough. She pushed the elevator button repeatedly, ready to storm the room and rescue her friend. Finally, the doors opened, and The Courier burst out of the elevator. Ignoring Cass for the moment, she ran to the front desk.

"Did Benny go this way?" she nearly screamed at Swank.

"No such luck, baby," he replied.

"Son of a BITCH!" The girl slammed her fist on the counter as Cass caught up to her.

"What happened?"

"He ran for it, the little weasel." The girl's hair was a mess and her dress looked askew. Her face was flushed and she was far too short of breath for just the short run to the counter. Cass cleared her throat, and the younger girl turned to her, looking miserable.

"Did you fuck him?" Cass asked, point blank. The Courier's eyes widened and she looked like she had been punched in the gut. The older woman barely noticed as Swank started coughing violently.

"NO! Oh God, Cass, do you think I'm an idiot?"

The older woman shrugged. "Well, given how well this plan unfolded…"

"Oh shut up."

* * *

It occurs to me I haven't thanked my editor yet. Thank you, Editor :D


	10. Crazy

Boone's eyes slowly opened as he woke from another peaceful night's sleep. When the group was given access to the Lucky 38's suite, Boone hadn't trusted the set up at all. He had stayed up during the first few nights, feigned insomnia, while keeping an eye out for trouble as the others slept.

He might not have been so cautious, but that robot cowboy never left the suite, and Boone wasn't going to leave everyone helpless with that thing around. Cass had voiced the same concerns to him, and the two had agreed to keep watch in shifts. One of them would be awake at all times. They opted to not mention it to the others. It didn't seem necessary to alarm them, and The Courier had a soft spot for the robot that had dug her out of her grave.

Boone's sleep had definitely improved with this arrangement. Clean sheets and soft pillows may have helped as well. He felt peaceful and well rested, more than he had in a long time, until he turned over in the bed and found a Nightkin staring down at him.

"GOOD MORNING, SWEETY," it bellowed. Boone rolled off the bed away from the super mutant and landed in a crouch, hands going for the pistol under his pillow. He heard thundering footsteps from the hallway and The Courier's panicked voice.

"WAIT BOONE!" The girl flew into the room and flung herself in front of the nightkin. The Courier blanched at the face Boone was making and smiled weakly. The nightkin didn't seem to notice their altercation and started for the door.

"I'VE GOT TO FINISH BREAKFAST!" Boone lowered his gun and watched the hulking figure leave the room before looking back at The Courier. His finger was still on the trigger.

"That's… um, Lily… but she likes to be called 'Grandma'…" The girl ran out of the room before the sniper could retaliate.

*.*.*

The Courier carefully placed another card on the card house she had started while dinner was cooking. The molerat stew was bubbling and she had gotten bored waiting. Hearing footsteps coming her way, she looked up as Boone entered the room. He nodded a greeting and went rooting through the fridge. After retrieving a bottle of water, he sat at the table. Soon the smell of dinner had spread, and the others started filtering into the room. The Courier got up to check the stew as her companions started talking to each other.

"So, what's our next move?" Veronica said, looking over to The Courier. "We need to find that Benny guy, right?"

"Uh, well, turns out he's skipped town…" the girl said evasively, giving Cass a warning look from across the room. Cass looked annoyed, but didn't speak up.

"We've got the Chairmen on our side about the whole thing, so I don't think he'll be coming back for a while…" The Courier continued. "But now that House has got us put up and is paying the bills, I figure we can stick around here until we figure out where that creep got to."

"Sounds good to me!" Veronica said happily. The Courier started handing out bowls of stew, and the conversation died down as everyone ate.

After a few minutes of silence, Arcade looked up with a frown on his face. "I wonder what tipped Benny off… We've only been here a week…" The Courier shrugged innocently, but the doctor continued. "Based on what you've said, I didn't think he was the skittish type."

That made the girl laugh. "Oh yeah? You should have seen the look on his face when he saw me. You'd think he had… been….." The brunette's words came to a halt as she realized what she had said. The whole table was staring at her, faces varying between shock and anger.

"You saw him?" Arcade sputtered.

"You shouldn't have gone alone," Raul admonished.

The girl sat up straighter. "I didn't go alone. Cass was with me!"

"Not when he took you up to his room," Cass said flatly.

The younger woman spun her way, glaring. "Shut UP, Cass!" But she knew the damage was done.

"You went off alone with the guy who shot you in the head?" Arcade spoke. "Were you armed?"

"Yes," the girl said, defensively.

"Pfft, with a switchblade," Cass said. "He probably still had the gun he shot you with."

"Come on, guys," Veronica spoke up. "She came back alive. No harm done."

"Except he knows you're alive. And he got away with the chip, right?" Raul said. The Courier nodded, smiling sheepishly. She glanced at Boone, her smile retreating when she saw his face.

"You could have been killed," he said tersely.

"And you went along with this?" Arcade said to Cass, who glowered at him.

"What was I going to do? Hogtie her and drag her back here?"

"If that's what you had to do," came from Boone.

The Courier scowled at him. "Hey! I'm not some helpless idiot. Yeah, he got away, but I found out his whole plan!" Boone opened his mouth to speak.

"YOU KIDS PLAY NICE, NOW!" came a bellow from the doorway. The conversation abruptly stopped as Lily entered the room. "THAT'S BETTER. NOW, FINISH YOUR DINNER BEFORE IT GETS COLD. THEN IT'S BED TIME." She wandered back out, leaving everyone to eat in silence.

Later, The Courier was alone in the kitchen, washing dishes and trying very hard to act like she wasn't upset. She sensed someone approaching, but continued scrubbing the pot in her hands without turning around. She saw a pair of large blue hands pick up the clean dishes and start drying them.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER, DEAR?"

The Courier sighed, looking at the nightkin. "I didn't think everyone would be so mad…"

Lily chuckled, putting the dishes away. "THEY'RE ONLY ANGRY BECAUSE THEY CARE ABOUT YOU." She turned to the girl. "I CAN REMEMBER HOW I USED TO YELL AT YOUR GRANDFATHER WHEN HE'D GO OFF HUNTING RADSCORPIONS. I DID IT BECAUSE I WORRIED ABOUT HIM, BECAUSE I LOVED HIM."

The brunette let out a sigh and looked at her pseudo-grandmother. "Do you think they'll forgive me?"

"OF COURSE THEY WILL, DEAR. GIVE THEM TIME."

*.*.*

Arcade Gannon had seen quite a few things in his life, but a nightkin carefully folding laundry was definitely not one of them. He had walked into the suite's bathroom to find Lily humming as she sorted delicates. He started turning to leave when the super mutant's voice rang out.

"HELLO, DEAR. DO YOU NEED SOMETHING WASHED?" Arcade froze in his tracks, then slowly turned back.

"Uh, no thanks, I'll just be go-"

"DON'T BE SHY, SWEETY. I DON'T BITE." That made Arcade laugh, despite himself. He lingered in the doorway of the room, curiosity overtaking apprehension.

"So, uh, where did you say you were from?"

"OH, I GREW UP IN VAULT 17. IT WAS LOVELY. COMFORTABLE AND SAFE. BUT WE HAD TO LEAVE." Her tone became serious. At least, he thought it did. "SOMETIMES I MISS IT, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO ENJOY WHAT YOU'VE GOT, NOT WISH FOR WHAT YOU'VE LOST."

The doctor frowned at that. "It's not always that easy…"

"THAT'S TRUE, DEAR, BUT IT WOULD BE A SHAME TO LET THE PAST RUIN THE PRESENT." Lily picked up the stack of towels she had just finished folding and walked off to put them away. She gave the scientist a pat on the arm as she went.

He watched her go, deep in thought.

*.*.*

The Courier was reading in her room when there was a knock at the door. She looked up from the intact pre-war medical book as Boone, Arcade and Raul entered. She put the book on her desk and looked at the group again.

"Uh, is this an intervention? Because I can kick the sarsaparilla habit whenever I want. I only drink it for the star caps anyway…" She trailed off, gauging their lack of response to mean this was a serious meeting. Arcade spoke first.

"Listen, about Lily, we don't know if she's the best fit for this group."

"Yeah," Raul added. "I don't think a schizophrenic nightkin helps the team dynamic, Boss."

"She could snap at any minute. We have no clue if we can trust her," Boone said, crossing his arms over his chest.

The Courier looked at the group of them. "Woah, woah, where did this come from? Has she done anything to cause concern?"

Arcade shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable. "Do we really have to wait until she does something dangerous?"

The Courier looked thoughtfully at them, but smiled easily. "Listen, I didn't get this far in life by doubting my ability to judge character."

Raul laughed. "Boss, you've had a hole shot out of your head, then you went and hung out with the guy who did it alone and unarmed."

"How can we trust her? Her personality could change without any warning," Arcade said, frowning. "She seems nice enough now, but _this _personality might not be there later…"

The Courier opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Lily stepping into the room.

"WHO WANTS COOKIES?" The super mutant placed a tray of cookies and a bottle of Nuka-Cola on The Courier's desk.

The girl's face lit up with joy. "Thanks, Grandma!"

"KEEP UP YOUR STUDIES, SWEETHEART." The nightkin left the room. Boone looked at The Courier, who was happily eating a cookie. He groaned and left, giving up. The others followed, Arcade grabbing a cookie on the way.

"Hey, this is pretty good," The Courier heard him say from the hallway.

* * *

A big thanks today to my editor, I had a lot of trouble with the wording on this one.


	11. Once Upon a Time

"There I was, just a spit's reach from Primm. There were two hombres after my head and I had just run out of ammo. I was aiming to reunite Old Mrs. Johansson with her children, and I reckoned it would get mighty ugly if the younguns were there for the firefight. So I turned to the elder Johansson boy, his name was Jimmy, and I said, "Jimmy, you take your younger brother and hide behind those rocks. Ol' Victor will take care of this."

The Courier sat at the kitchen table, listening to Victor's story while stitching a tear in Cass's jacket. Next to her was Veronica, tinkering with a disassembled power fist. At the end of the table, Arcade was just finishing screwing the last replacement screw into his glasses.

The securitron continued, its face screen changing expressions as it spoke, "So, now that the boys are hidden, I figured I was in a sore bit of trouble without anything for my guns to shoot. That's when I see the old landmine on the ground. And as I'm picking the thing up, here comes the McLauderly brothers, smiling like devils…"

Just outside of the kitchen, Cass stood in the hallway, arms crossed over her chest. Nearby, Raul was examined the newspaper articles hanging on the wall.

"I don't like that robot, and I don't trust House," Cass said sourly.

The ghoul chuckled. "I don't think anybody in their right mind would trust House." He stood by Cass's side, looking into the room at the group gathered around Victor. "But good luck getting rid of that one." The Courier and Veronica laughed at something the robot had said.

"Sometimes she acts like a damn ten-year-old," Cass said, glowering in the direction of The Courier. The ghoul just laughed again, then walked off to take a look at the leaking faucet in the bathroom. Cass listened as Victor continued his story.

"…'Just hand over them brats' the ugly one says. Of course I'm not going to let them know the boys were a scant few feet away, so they draw. But as they do, I throw the mine. I guess old lady luck was still right with me, 'cause the mine catches one of the bullets and blows them to smithereens!"

The Courier grinned, starting on another hole in the jacket. As she did, Boone walked into the room, gave the robot a look, and headed for the fridge. The Courier notice him taking a barrel cactus fruit and grabbed one of the tiny wrenches Veronica was using, throwing it at the sniper.

It hit him in the arm and he turned, glaring. The girl was nonplused. "Keep out of those! They're for dinner!"

"Fine," he sighed, putting the fruit back and stalking away.

The Courier sighed. "Oh, if you're going to mope, go ahead and take one…" She thought she detected a smirk from the man as he went back and retrieved the fruit from the refrigerator. He picked up the wrench and dropped it on the pile of Veronica's tools as he left the room.

He passed Cass on the way out, who was still glowering at both the robot and The Courier. He nodded to her as he passed, heading toward the bedroom, when the woman spoke up.

"You think this place is bugged?"

The sniper shrugged, swallowing a mouthful of cactus fruit. "Probably."

Cass nodded, looking angrier. "We shouldn't be staying here…"

"I don't know about that." Raul came in from the bathroom. "It's safe, and as long as House wants what we want, he's got no reason to get rid of us."

Cass still looked angry. "I still don't like it. And what are we going to do now that Benny bailed?"

"He'll surface sooner or later," Boone said around a mouthful of fruit. "He's still got the chip, and it's supposed to work here at the 38."

*.*.*

"Did you get the boys home?" Veronica asked, examining her now slightly bent wrench.

"Well, little lady," Victor answered, "That's the darnedest thing. When we got back, the Johansson house was on fire. Old Lady Johansson was outside with a wild look on her face. When I asked her what happened, and she tells me she set the place on fire, as she couldn't bare to be there without her boys. Well I had her boys right with me, so she got even crazier."

"Hey, you got an alligator wrench?" Raul strolled in, looking for Veronica. The girl sorted through her pile of tools, producing one. The ghoul took it. "Thanks." He strolled off again without another word. The Courier held up the jacket she had been patching, admiring her handiwork.

"Hey, hold on just a sec, Victor. I'll be right back." The girl got up and left the kitchen, taking the jacket with her. She came to an abrupt stop when she found half the group staring at her from the hallway.

"Not another intervention. I only tried Mentats once. I'm not going to use them again…" Gauging the look they were all giving her, she figured this was another serious gathering.

"What's our next move, Boss?" Raul asked.

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well… Why don't we check out The Strip? The Chairmen are looking into where Benny got to… So we might as well hang around and see what they turn up."

"So, basically, we're doing nothing," Cass said, glowering. The Courier held up her fixed coat, and the glare faded from the older woman.

"Not 'nothing.' I'm sure there's plenty of trouble we can get into here."

"That you excel at, Boss," Raul said dryly.

"Funny." She looked over at Boone. "What happened to those pants with the hole? I'll stitch them up." The sniper started towards the bedroom, Courier in tow. Raul and Cass watched them go. Cass nudged Raul, nodding at the two as they walked off. The ghoul nodded in response as the pair disappeared into the bedroom.

*.*.*

A couple minutes later, The Courier return with a pair of pants in her arms. Veronica looked at them as the other girl sat down next to her.

"What's with those?"

The brunette laughed, holding up the pants to the other girl. "A coyote got Boone in the butt a couple weeks ago." Sure enough, there was a rip in the seat of the pants. Veronica laughed as the Courier started to thread her needle.

"Go on, Victor. What happened next?" the girl prompted.

The robot continued. "It wasn't long before the townspeople in Primm sent her packing. Couldn't deal with her particular kind of crazy, I guess. I reckon that was wise, as she said she was fixing to start torching the rest of the town as she was leaving. But I had done my piece, and they sent me on my way with my payment."

"That's some story, Victor." The Courier grinned at the robot. "Did you do that kind of thing a lot?"

"You bet your boots, little lady, but I don't want to bore you with all this cowpoke's old stories. Now you go on about your day. Ol' Victor's gonna mosey back to the elevator." With that, the robot rolled out of the room and back to the hallway.


	12. To Each His Own

And so starts the three-part series of Strip-centric stories. Most of these feature things that actually happened to me while playing. Enjoy!

* * *

"Why are we doing this again?" Boone sounded less than pleased as he fidgeted with his tie.

The Courier gave him a look as she fixed her hat. "We're doing a little recon."

The sniper let out a sigh and gave up trying to argue. He was more than certain this was a thinly disguised excuse to wear the pre-war cocktail dress she had tracked down. The face she had made when she presented him the suit that 'went with his beret' had made it impossible to refuse her.

She checked herself out in the mirror one last time and frowned, looking to the sniper. "Hat or no hat?"

He just looked at her blankly. She shook her head, leaving the room and calling for Cass. The woman poked her head out of the kitchen. "What?"

The younger woman twirled in her dress.

"Hat or no hat?"

"Hm, I'd say no hat, but wear your hair up. Trying to look nice for your date?"

The Courier put her hands on her hips. "Not a date. We're just going to check out the Gomorrah." Cass started laughing hard. The Courier waited patiently for her to stop before asking her what was so funny.

"Oh nothing… You have a nice… platonic time at the Go…Gom…" She dissolved into another fit of laughter. The younger girl stepped over Cass as she sunk to the floor laughing and went to fix her hair. A few minutes later, she headed for the elevator, Boone in tow.

"What. Is. That?" came a half-strangled cry from Veronica as they were just leaving the hallway. Boone nearly knocked into The Courier as she froze in her tracks, an incredibly guilty look on her face. She turned and forced a grin to the younger woman.

"I….we, we're…" she fumbled for an explanation, something Boone had never seen her do. Veronica looked like she was going to explode.

"You got… a dress? Without me? YOU DIDN'T GET ME ONE?" she squealed.

"I… Listen, I'm going to get you a better one than this. That's what we're going out to do. Right Boone?" The Courier looked at Boone pleadingly. Boone rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed again. Veronica glared at the sniper, then back at the other girl.

"Just give me some time. We'll be back and I'll take you wherever you want to go on the Strip, okay?" Veronica gave her a suspicious look, but relented.

"Fine… but you'd better be getting me something real nice."

"You know it. We'll be back in a little while." With that, they departed from the suite.

*.*.*

The Courier stared, mouth agape, having just stepped into Brimstone, the bar at Gomorrah. She had heard things about the place, but she hadn't quite expected what she was seeing. Between the nearly naked prostitutes on the stage and the small orgy in the corner of the room, the girl turned bright red and made a run for the courtyard. Boone tried to warn her before she got to the door, but she slipped out before he got the chance.

He followed and nearly got bowled over by the girl as she ran back in, redder than before. She gave him a wide-eyed look, "This place is insane! Some woman just offered me a 'Raider's sunrise' and was holding a Brahmin skull and a whip."

"Come on, let's get out of here," Boone said, taking the brunette's arm. She nodded, dazed, and they made their way out, the sniper deflecting any overly pushy prostitutes as they went. Soon they were outside, and The Courier was frowning. She let out a deep sigh, looking over at Boone.

"Have you ever been in there before?" He nodded. The girl gave him a surprised look. "You mean you…uh, you know…"

The sniper shifted uncomfortably. "No. Manny dragged me in once when we were on leave."

The brunette looked slightly relieved. "I gotcha - wait, you knew what it was like in there and you didn't warn me?" She put her hands on her hips, but the sniper shrugged.

"You wanted to see The Strip. That's part of it."

She was still giving him a look, but he ignored it.

"Well, that was a bust… Let's check out the Ultra-Luxe!" She looked over the Boone who was making a face. "What? Don't tell me they sacrifice virgins or something…"

*.*.*

"You know, this would have been a good thing to warn me about," The Courier said to Boone as they walked through the hallway of the Ultra-Luxe's hotel. They had just been tipped off about a series of disappearances at the casino and were on their way to meet an investigator who had been looking into it.

"This is new to me." The sniper didn't sound happy. They had just discovered that a few of the ranking members of the White Glove Society were closet cannibals.

"Well, I'd hoped you would consider a casino half-full of cannibals to be on your list of 'things to inform people about,'" the girl said, reaching out to knock on the investigator's hotel room door. There was no answer, but the door swung open when she knocked.

"Hello?" The Courier called out, poking her head in. "Is anyone… Oh crap." The girl rushed into the room, seeing a man in a trench coat on the floor. Blood was splattered on the floor. She reached out to take the man's pulse.

"He's dead. We need to…" She looked up to see two men in White Glove Society masks coming up behind Boone, brandishing canes. She cried out to her companion, who barely had time to dodge a swing from the first man.

The second man bypassed the sniper, instead rushing toward The Courier. The girl leapt to her feet, looking for a weapon. There was a gun on the nightstand, but that was at the other end of the room. She looked back up to see the masked man reaching for her. She didn't have time to dodge, and the man grabbed her by the arm. He yanked her closer to him as he raised his cane.

Before he could swing down, another cane crashed down on his head, hard. The man fell to the floor, and The Courier saw Boone behind him, bloodied cane in hand. She peeked around him to see the first of their attackers collapsed in a pool of blood.

She gave the sniper a wry grin. "You know what? You're a scary guy, Boone." He dropped the cane on the ground, a grim look on his face. Her grin faded. "We need to find that kid, before it's too late"

Boone nodded. "We need to find more weapons."

The girl looked around at the carnage the sniper had caused with only a dress cane.

"I'd say we don't have to worry about that, but…" She picked her way past the growing number of bodies in the room and bent over to the nightstand. "… We're in a little better shape now." She handed him the gun.

*.*.*

"You need to get me out of here! When my father finds out about this, he'll shut this whole place down!"

Boone turned to glare at the man crouched behind him. "Shut up."

Ted Gunderson looked insulted. He opened his mouth to speak, but the look the sniper was giving him shut him up. The two men were crouched in the alcove beyond the kitchen of The Gourmand, deep in the basement of the Ultra-Luxe. Boone turned back to watch The Courier, who was waiting to give the meal she had prepared to the wait staff. Mortimer thought he was getting a meal of human flesh, but the girl had been able to get a substitute human recipe from the cook before convincing him to leave. Boone could see the nervousness in her brown eyes. Not that he could blame her, as she stood in the kitchen of a den of cannibals.

He clutched the 9mm they had found in the investigator's room in his hand, ready to spring to action if things went bad. He could hear Gunderson wheezing behind him. He couldn't blame the guy either. It couldn't have been much fun being locked up, waiting to get eaten.

"This will never work. Can't we just shoot our way out?" Ted Gunderson whined. Boone let out a breath through his teeth and considered locking the prick in the freezer again. Then the head waiter, followed by a few of his staff, came in and began carrying away the plates. The Courier forced a smile at them as they bustled about.

Once they were gone, Boone emerged from the shadows, Gunderson in tow. The girl cracked a genuine smile as he approached. "Let's go ruin dinner."

They started for the member's area.

*.*.*

"We're completely in your debt. If there's anything we can do for you…" Marjorie said to the Courier and Boone shortly after the ill fated dinner. Ted Gunderson and his father had been reunited, and Mortimer had sworn revenge as he was chased off.

The girl was barely listening to her. She just wanted to go back to the 38 and crawl into bed. But she plastered a polite smile on her face as the woman thanked her.

"No problem. Just glad to see no one else get hurt."

Marjorie smiled and told them they were welcome at the Ultra-Luxe any time. The Courier started to leave, but stopped suddenly, a grin spreading on her face.

"Actually, there is some thing you can do…"

* * *

Yes. Boone beat a White Glove Society member to death with his own cane. You may be able to tell why I kept him around so much.


	13. Ain't We Got Fun

"What do you think?" Veronica giggled, twirling in her new dress, courtesy of the Ultra-Luxe.

The Courier smiled, nodding. "Yep, that rates on the 'heartbreaker' level." Veronica hadn't stopped smiling since she had come out of the bathroom. She pranced in front of Victor, who was watching them in the hallway.

"What do you think?" she twirled for the robot.

"Little lady, you look prettier than a full moon on a clear prairie night."

Veronica giggled further and went back into the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. Moments later, she ran back into the hall, nearly bowling into The Courier.

"We _need_ to go out! Please? Please please please please?" She tugged insistently on the other girls armor straps.

"Okay, OKAY! We'll go out!"

Veronica giggled again and practically shoved The Courier into her room to change. A few minutes later, she was back in the hall in her gold cocktail dress. Veronica made a face as she patted her sides.

"What wrong?" The Courier asked.

"How are we going to carry supplies?" She made an exasperated face at the shorter girl's raised eyebrow, "You know, weapons, stimpaks, grenades, caps, these things have no pockets, and dusty backpacks don't exactly go with this dress."

The Courier crossed her arms. "That's a good question. I usually have Boone carry everything…" The sniper had been out all day and hadn't returned to the suite yet. Even if he were here, the brunette had a hunch he wouldn't want to go with them to show off Veronica's new dress. "Well, we'll just have to make do without an esc-"

As she was about to finish her sentence, the elevator opened, and out walked the sniper in question. He saw the two girls in their dresses and the greeting he had opened his mouth to say died on his lips. He quickly stepped back into the elevator and jammed his finger on the door close button.

"Oh no you don't!" Veronica ran into the elevator and dragged Boone out. "You've got to go out with us!"

"No."

"Yes! Come on, please?" Boone didn't look impressed with the girl's pleas and shook himself free from her death grip.

"How can you let us walk around the Strip unescorted?" Veronica gave him a wide-eyed look. "What if we get attacked? It'd sure be awful if there turned out to be more kidnappers or crazed nightkin after her. You know how much trouble she gets into." Veronica indicated The Courier, who scoffed indignantly.

Boone glared at Veronica, then looked over to The Courier, who shrugged, staying out of the argument. The sniper looked back at Veronica, who batted her eyelashes at him.

"Fine." he growled, stalking towards the bedroom to retrieve his suit. As he walked in, he found Raul waiting.

"Sucker for a couple pretty faces, huh?"

"Shut up." Boone pulled open his foot locker.

*.*.*

"Hey hey, Babydoll!" The Courier smiled as she spotted Swank waving to her. She led the group over, grinning at the man.

"You've got a lopsided double date, girlie. Need a forth?" The Chairman grinned at her, making her blush.

Veronica smiled at the man and hooked an arm in The Courier's. "Sure. I don't' know if you're Boone's type, though…" Swank grinned wider looking at the girls, but dropped it when he looked at Boone, who didn't look as amused. The Chairman recovered quickly enough and put his focus back on the Courier.

"Hey, why don't you all mosey over to The Aces. Cover's on me." He gave her a wicked grin, "If you ever swing back this way, you look up Swank."

The girls started for the club, giggling. Veronica glanced back and found Boone looking around the casino with a unreadable expression on his face. She grabbed his arm and started tugging him toward the club. "Come on. Clubs are no place to be without your chaperone."

He allowed himself to be dragged on without much resistance, and they entered the Aces together.

*.*.*

The Courier was having a hard time believing she was back at the Gomorrah, but there she was. Veronica had insisted on taking a look at the place, chalking it up to 'professional curiosity.' The Courier had spent most of the time in the establishment hiding behind Boone, who had been silently watching for trouble.

Veronica wasn't smiling so much as she was gaping at everything. She had asked the bartender and some of the prostitutes about their work environment and gotten varied responses. It wasn't until they reached the courtyard that things got weird.

"Back already? I knew you couldn't resist," a prostitute said to The Courier, who went red and ducked behind Boone again. The woman, wearing only a skimpy pink nightie, grinned at the other girl's retreat. Veronica approached her.

"So, what's it like working here? Do you ever get any time off?" Whatever the prostitute had been expecting, it hadn't been that line of questions. She slumped a moment, her business façade retreating.

"I… I just wish I could leave." Her tone made The Courier emerge from hiding. This woman was clearly in some kind of trouble, and she wanted to know more.

*.*.*

Both Veronica and The Courier smiled as they watched Joanna and her boyfriend, Carlitos, walk off hand-in-hand. A few other former prostitutes followed them as they went off to start new lives, freed by the efforts of the two girls. Boone was busy checking the dead Omerta thugs who had tried to keep the prostitutes from fleeing.

Veronica suddenly turned to The Courier, making a face. "Why is it every time we go somewhere, you get us into trouble?"

"ME?" the other girl said. "You were the one asking everyone at the Gomorrah their life stories. I didn't even want to go there!"

Veronica shrugged. "You really are a prude, you know that?"

The Courier glared at her.

* * *

In case you're wondering, the Well-Heeled Suit is the one that matches Boone's Beret. :3


	14. Dynamite

The Courier again wondered what she was doing back at the Gomorrah. She hated the place, from the sense of misery in the workers to the drugged up clientele. But here she was, sitting at a table in Brimstone, flipping through the diary of a very sick individual.

Joanna had warned them of the Omertas' plans for the Strip, and The Courier, despite her revulsion, knew they needed to check out what was going on at the Gomorrah. That had led her to the diary of Cachino, a high-ranking member of the family.

She abruptly closed the diary, having read the head of the entry 'Raider's sunrise.' Her sudden motion caught Boone's attention, as he had been scanning the room. He gave her a questioning look.

"This will not be a hard blackmail. I'm amazed the boss's didn't catch this guy years ago." The Courier stretched the kink out of her back and smoothed her dress, having seen the man in question walk into the room. "All right, you know the drill. Leave the talking to me."

Boone gave her a blank look as she got up and walked over to Cachino.

*.*.*

Placing the last thermite package on a pile of guns, The Courier found herself grinning. "I think I've found my calling: blowing stuff up." She looked over at Boone, who was keeping an eye out for Omerta goons. The girl took a look around the room. It was a shame to get rid of so many perfectly good weapons… but she wasn't about to let the creeps who ran this place have them either.

She walked over to her companion, who had helped himself to a shiny sniper rifle before she had started placing the explosives.

"Where exactly are you going to hide that?" the brunette asked. Boone shrugged, and the girl let it go. "Anyway, let's get this over with." They left the room and closed the door. The Courier peeked around the corner of the hallway, then threw the switch on the detonator. The pair started an awkward, hurried walk away from the area as explosions rocked the basement.

"Just smile, don't run. Act natural," the girl said through her teeth.

"How is not running from an explosion natural?" the sniper scoffed.

"Shut up, just go." They made a hasty retreat, heading back upstairs to meet with Cachino.

*.*.*

The Courier sat on a small couch, staring down the barrels of the two guns pointed at her. She tried to smile, but was having a hard time of it.

"We know you're the one who's been screwing up our plans," Nero, the Omerta boss, said. Big Sal stood next to him, glaring. The girl swallowed and after some concentrated effort, smiled her best smile.

"You're planning to kill me, right?"

Nero cracked half a grin and nodded.

"Well, at least let me know what you were planning. I never got the whole picture."

"We're Caesar's insiders. He wants the strip, and we're done with House."

The Courier's fake smile faltered. They had just said the magic word. She resisted the urge to look at Boone, who was probably reaching for his new rifle. If he was, the two casino bosses hadn't noticed, as Big Sal grinned easily at the girl.

"All right, it's a fuck's shame to blow a hole in that sweet a face, but business is business."

"I'm really getting sick of that line," The Courier said, gaining a confused look from the two men. They shrugged and cocked their guns. The Courier made to leap from the couch, sure she wouldn't be fast enough.

The room suddenly went silent, except for the hissing of a fuse as a stick of lit dynamite sailed over the couch and landed on the desk behind the two men. The Courier felt a pair of hands grab her under the arms and pull her over the back of the couch. She hit the floor and felt something bulky press over her, blocking her view. The next moment, a thundering boom shook the room.

The shock rattled her teeth, and then all she could hear was ringing. She opened her eyes and saw the fabric of Boone's suit pressed against her. The sniper got off the girl and peeked his head over the couch. He seemed happy with the result of the explosion. He bent down to help the girl up. She took one look at the remains of the Omerta bosses and turned away, feeling sick.

"Fucking _dynamite_? You could have fucking mentioned _that," _Cachino said from the hallway, looking singed. The sniper shrugged, guiding The Courier out of the room.

Once they had put some distance behind them, Cachino turned to them, all smiles.

"Well, I guess I owe you, so thanks." He handed the girl a stack of chips. "Now, I've got a casino to run."

The Courier had regained her composure by then and made a move to leave, but turned suddenly, facing Cahino. "You'd better start treating these people better, or next time you'll be the one getting the stick of dynamite up your ass."

The new casino boss glared murderously at her, but backed down. "Yeah, whatever, doll. Just don't wear out your welcome." He stalked off, and The Courier turned toward Boone, who was brushing the dust off his suit coat.

"Dynamite?"

The man looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Dress canes weren't going to cut it this time."

The Courier grinned.

"We have to talk about your sense of scale." She let out a breath she felt like she'd been holding since the meeting started. "Let's get the hell out of here. We linger too long and we'll end up finding out what a Raider's Sunrise actually is."

* * *

Yeah, Boone kept using dynamite for a hold out weapon. Weird, wild stuff.


	15. What'll I do?

"Is something bothering you, boss?" Raul looked across the table to The Courier, who was giving the cards in her hand a perplexed look.

"No… Why do you ask?"

"Well, for one, you're hiding out at my place," he said, gesturing around the small shack, "and you haven't said anything in nearly twenty minutes. If I didn't see you breathing, I'd figure you were dead."

"Funny. But really, I'm okay." She put a card down on one of her caravans. Raul put his own down, closing one of the stacks.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with House, would it?" The ghoul noticed the girl sink further down her chair. She placed another card, but Raul gave her a look. "You can't put that there." She retracted the card and replaced it with another. "And you didn't answer my question…" Raul continued.

The girl let out a breath. "I'm not sure we're doing the right thing… That stupid chip is just the beginning. House wants the dam." Raul didn't look to surprised at this statement, so she continued. "He's got me running around to make it happen, but do I want it to happen?"

"What's the alternative?" The ghoul set down a card.

"Well, that Yes-Man robot tells me I could off House and take The Strip over, I could turn the whole thing over to the NCR… or I can just let the Legion steamroll over the place." She said the last part with disdain.

"I don't know, Boss. One group can be just as bad as another." The Courier gave the ghoul a startled look, not expecting Legion sympathy from him.

"Yeah, but when one group's battle cry is 'if we can't enslave or rape it, we'll kill it' I'm not too sympathetic." The brunette laughed. "Besides, I'd have Boone hunting me down for the rest of my life. Did I tell you about the dynamite?"

"Yeah, and the dress cane. I'm closing this caravan." He put another card down. The girl looked at her cards, confused.

"Can I put a joker down to stop you?" Raul laughed.

"No, Boss."

The girl put the card back in her hand. She sighed heavily again.

"So that leaves me the NCR, House, or just take the whole thing over myself."

"Which one do you want?" Raul asked, mulling over his cards while he waited for the girl to make her next move. She didn't seem to be thinking about the game anymore.

"I don't know. I'd be lying if I didn't think I might just go into business for myself… But what the hell do I know about ruling a city? Besides, I can't take on all of Arizona with just a handful robots.

"On the other hand, the NCR can be pretty screwed up. You saw Forlorn Hope. There were more graves than barracks. And they do nothing to help their troops. They'd all be wiped out if we hadn't gone in and fixed them up."

"What about House?" Raul saw the girl frown.

"I don't trust him. So far things haven't been too bad, but I know he's going to ask me to do something I can't abide by… It's just a matter of time. I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see." She put down another card.

Raul shook his head and put his last card down, ending the caravan and winning. The Courier looked at the pile of cards, amazed to see someone who actually knew how to play the game. She chewed her lip after a moment, frown coming back to her face slowly.

"What is it?" The ghoul prompted.

"Remember I told you about Nipton getting wiped out? And how there was that scout guy and his crew?" Her companion nodded, motioning for her to continue. "Well, I bumped into him on The Strip."

"'Bumped into'? When did that happen?"

The girl was starting to look decidedly uncomfortable.

"I only was on The Strip alone once. I was heading over to the NCR embassy one morning, and he stopped me on the way."

"So he'd been watching you, huh?" Raul asked. The girl's obvious unease grew. "What'd he say?"

"Well, he gave me this." She pulled a coin out of her pocket and placed it on the table. The ghoul took a look at the golden coin and made a face.

"What is it?"

"Well, I guess I have a standing invitation to go to the Legion camp on the other side of the river. Caesar's mark," she indicated the coin, "gives me safe passage." She looked over to her companion. "Do you think I should go?"

The ghoul frowned. "Well, these Legion guys are pretty sincere about the things they say. I don't think I've ever heard of them lying outright about that kind of thing. On the other hand, you've been helping the NCR quite a bit, and most of the Mojave has seen you running around with Boone. If that guy's been watching you, he knows you've got a NCR sniper in your pocket. So maybe it is a trap. Do you want to go?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. I'm sure they're just going to offer my thirty pieces of silver and ask me to nail the NCR to a cross… but I can't help but want to see what they're like in their own element…"

"Just promise me something, Boss?" The girl looked at him. "If you decide to go, tell someone."

The Courier looked sheepish. "Am I that obvious?" The ghoul gave her a blank look. "Fine, I'll tell you if I go. Just…" She looked uncomfortable. "Don't tell Boone unless it's clear something's happened… He'll end up getting himself killed."

"He'll end up getting himself killed if something does happen…"

The girl looked at the ground and didn't respond.


	16. I Don't Claim to be an Angel

The Courier ducked under a crumbled piece of concrete, trying to ignore the bullet hole in her shoulder. It was proving difficult. She looked over to Veronica, who was waiting for her. She grimaced at the pain in her arm and blew a breath out through her teeth. She didn't know who these thugs were, but she was certain they weren't prepared for Veronica.

"GO!" she yelled at the other girl, coming up past her cover and shooting at the group of men bearing down on them. Veronica leapt up and ran at the men, power fist humming. The Courier ignored her throbbing arm and kept firing at the remaining raiders, managing to take one out.

She didn't look when the scribe got to the last man, trusting his horrible screams to mean he was dispatched. She slid down the concrete she had been pressed against and looked at her own wound. It wasn't a pleasant sight, but she pulled out her medical equipment and dug around for her tweezers.

Veronica wiped blood off of her face with a scrap of fabric as she walked back to The Courier, grinning. She sat down on a hunk of the crumbled wall and watched as the other girl prepared to pull the bullet out of her own shoulder.

"You know, you could help me," The Courier said.

Veronica shrugged. "I don't have any medical training. Didn't you have to do this by yourself before we all came along?"

"Yes. It doesn't mean I _want _to pull bullets out of my arm."

"Well, next time bring Arcade. That's not in my job description." She watched with growing fascination as The Courier grimaced and pulled the hunk of metal out of her shoulder.

"That's gross," Veronica said, laughing. The other girl glared at her, tossing the bullet away, and started cleaning the wound.

"So this is gross, but punching faces into pulp isn't?"

The scribe shrugged. "That's different. It's business."

"And this isn't?"

"Well, it's medic business, not mine."

The Courier shook her head as she pulled off her shirt to wrap the wound. Veronica continued watching as the other girl finished the wrap and put her shirt back on.

"It must have sucked running around on your own."

The Courier nodded. "It had it's charms, but it also got me a hole in the head. So I think I prefer having backup." She took out a stimpak and pulled the cap off. "It's nice to not have to talk to myself for company, too." She took a deep breath and injected the needle above the bandaged area. Veronica stuck out her tongue and looked away as she did.

A moment later, the scribe heard the sounds of running and yelling. She and The Courier peeked over the hunk of cement. Another group of raiders rounded the corner, seeing their dead friends. They all started yelling and ran towards the two girls. Ducking back behind the concrete, The Courier shouted over to Veronica.

"I'm throwing grenades. Stay back and shoot!" She heard the other girl acknowledge her and dug a grenade out of her pack. She peeked over the crumbled wall to see Veronica rushing toward the group, power fist out.

"I said stay back!" The Courier yelled, the taller girl kept running towards the raiders.

"Can't hear you. Murdering!"

The Courier leveled her pistol at the raiders and nearly gagged at the sight of an imploding human skull as Veronica took out the first raider. She shot at one, which nearly took the man's head clear off. The girl pulled the trigger again, but her gun had jammed.

"Crap." She bent down behind the concrete and looked at the gun. She'd be able to repair it after the fight. Suddenly remembering she'd left Veronica unwatched, she poked her head back up. The scribe was walking her way, shaking blood off of her hands. The raiders were all very dead.

"What happened to shooting?" The Courier said tartly as Veronica walked back to her.

"My gun jammed."

"Like hell it did."


	17. All or Nothing at All

"Did I tell you one of your people are here?" The Courier had just passed through the checkpoint at the Helios One power plant. Arcade whirled around and gave the girl a slightly started look.

"What?"

The girl blinked at him, perplexed. "A Follower of the Apocalypse?" She continued to give him a confused look as he sighed, looking relieved.

"Oh yeah, uh….wasn't it Ignacio?"

The girl nodded. They continued through the facility, the doctor looking around as they went. They rounded the corner of a hallway into the main control room.

"Oh crap, I probably should warn you about-" The girl didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as she nearly bumped into a man in a lab coat and sunglasses. Arcade gave the man one look and knew it was going to be a long day.

"Hey! If it isn't Fantastic's little helper! What's the matter, got a problem that needs some Fantastic help?"

The girl smiled painfully and looked at Arcade. "Uh, Arcade Gannon, this is…. Fantastic."

"The pleasure's all yours." Fantastic grinned toothily at the doctor, who grimaced.

"Charmed, and what are you doing here?"

Fantastic look taken aback by the doctor's question.

"This little burg is run by yours truly. See, the NCR knew they needed someone to get this place running, they needed someone… Fantastic."

Arcade stared at the man, mouth hanging open. "You run this facility?"

"Oh you bet I do. This place was running at one percent when I got here. Then I turned a few knobs, pushed a few buttons…" He grinned again. "And now we're at full capacity."

The Courier noticed her companion's horror and spoke up. "It's… nice to see you again, Fantastic, but we were looking for Ignacio."

"Oh yeah, he's moping around here somewhere." Fantastic wandered back to one of the consoles and flipped a switch randomly. The Courier grabbed Arcade's arm and pulled him out of the room.

They found Ignacio in the next room.

"Ah, it's you again," he said, smiling to the Courier. "Arcade?"

"Hello, Ignacio."

The Courier stifled the giggle that rose in her throat at the shell-shocked look her companion had.

"He just met Fantastic," the girl said, causing the scientist to laugh.

"Ah yes, our gracious host." The man patted Arcade on the back. "He takes some… getting used to."

"He _runs_ this place?"

"Oh God no. He's an idiot, which is great because this place isn't so much a power plant as it's a sky-laser-super-weapon," The Courier said, still grinning at her companion's reactions.

"Oh." The blonde shook his head. "Wait, what?"

"This place isn't what it seems," Ignacio said. "Fortunately, the NCR doesn't know that. They only care that we're producing power. And as long as Fantastic is 'running' the place, they'll never find out anything else."

The Courier laughed.

"Apparently the NCR will pay per kilowatt hour to anyone who hits the console hard enough to produce a spark." The girl put her hands on her hips and turned to Ignacio. "You know how much I could have cashed in on this place? Do you _know _how rich I made that asshole?"

The Follower smiled graciously "Well, it's a good thing you're such a good person."

The Courier laughed away the compliment. "Stop trying to butter me up. You already cost me enough caps." The girl put a finger to her chin. "And don't think I don't imagine how awesome it would be to have control of sky lasers."

"You're starting to sound like Fantastic," Arcade said dryly, earning an elbow from the girl.

"Watch it. I know how to make you suffer," she threatened, grinning. At Arcade's incredulous look, she turned, leaving the room. The doctor paled when he heard her call to Fantastic.

"Oh, there you are! Arcade was hoping you'd give him a tour!"

The blonde's look of horror almost made The Courier feel guilty. Almost.

* * *

I'm starting to itch from not writing in-depth action sequences. Fortunately, I plan on doing separate stories for the upcoming DLC. It's going to be a little more serious and a lot more action-packed. Keep an eye out for it after Christmas.


	18. Fools Rush In

The Courier wrapped the bandage one more time around her patient's arm. She sat back on her heels, looking over her work. The patient turned around and shoved its face against hers affectionately. The girl laughed and rubbed Snuffles the mole rat on the head, considering the treatment a success.

She sat up and looked over to Chomp Lewis, who had been patiently waiting for her to finish.

"Now, what's all this about deathclaws?"

The man quickly explained that the quarry was infested and they couldn't work until the creatures were cleared out.

"Oh, sure, we can take care of that. Which way to the quarry?"

"Over there," Chomp said, motioning a ways away from the town. "You sure about this?"

"Don't worry about it. We do this kind of thing all the time. We'll be back as soon as we take out the alpha and the den mother."

With that, the girl gathered up her medical kit and started up the path toward the quarry. Boone fell into step with her as she went.

"I hope we're not getting in over our heads," he said, sounding cautious.

"It'll be fine," the girl answered, not concerned in the least. She looked over to her companion. "What's a deathclaw?"

Boone gaped at her, then noticed they had been spotted.

*.*.*

Chomp Lewis couldn't help but chuckle as he saw The Courier and her sniper friend come running back down the path at full speed. The young deathclaws chasing them gave up and headed back to their current home.

They came to a stop in front of him. The girl doubled over, catching her breath. The sniper turned, leveling his rifle in the direction of the quarry, watching through his scope to make sure the deathclaws weren't doubling back.

"That's a deathclaw?"

Boone looked angry as he lowered his rifle. "No, that's a baby deathclaw."

The girl let out a series of curses as she straightened up. Her companion waited for her to finish before speaking again.

"How have you never heard of deathclaws?"

The girl shrugged. "It never came up. What do you want from me?" She stared down his scowl, then suddenly perked up.

"Don't you guys worry your pretty heads. I've got an idea." She walked over to the barracks where she had left her backpack. She emerged a few moments later, awkwardly balancing two items in her hands.

"What is that?" Chomp asked.

The girl grinned as she shouldered the weapon.

"It's called a fatman. This'll take care of our little problem." She started loading a mini-nuke.

"Whoa whoa whoa… If you irradiate the area, we won't be able to go back to work. Which was the point of getting the deathclaws out!"

The girl's smile vanished, and she stalked back to the barracks, muttering angrily. She came back a few minutes later, looking cross.

"Well, what's your plan?"

The sniper crossed his arms over his chest. "I can take them out if I can get high enough to be out of their reach." He looked over to where several cranes were visible. "But we need something to distract…." He trailed off, looking like he regretted what he said. The girl's smile came back.

"I've got an idea!"

"No," the sniper said firmly, but The Courier looked undaunted.

"Oh come on. I can run really fast."

"Not that fast."

She put her hands on her hips. "Just listen, okay?" Her companion didn't say anything, but didn't look like he was about to be convinced, either.

"I've got a couple stealth boys left. I use one, throw a grenade somewhere far enough out to cause trouble. They all go running over to see what happened, and I get out. Meanwhile, you get into place and fire away."

Boone didn't look happy, but he grumbled something about it being a pretty good plan. The girl smiled, satisfied. A few minutes later they walked back toward the quarry. Chomp shook his head as they went.

*.*.*

Boone didn't like this at all. The Courier had just switched on the stealth boy and was making her way to the far end of the quarry. The sniper was carefully sneaking toward the catwalk over the quarry, but came to a stop as he neared a group of deathclaws.

He hunched down behind one of the abandoned cranes and waited. He really didn't like this. He couldn't see anything from this position and couldn't see the girl if she got into trouble. He was giving her five minutes before he had to come up with plan B, which would probably consist of him opening fire and taking out as many as he could before they got him.

Three minutes in, he heard a boom echo from further in the quarry. The group of deathclaws nearby looked up and started running toward the blast. The sniper sprung up, running for the hill that connected to the catwalk.

Soon he was in position, having climbed up the scaffolding and settled on a stable spot. He scanned the area quickly and found the main concentration of deathclaws at the far end of the quarry. The mutated creatures were stalking around the area, sniffing the air. They hadn't caught their prey.

He lined up the first one in his scope and took a deep breath, then went to work.

*.*.*

"Well go on, it's getting cold," said Jas, the woman who ran the kitchen in Sloan. She had just presented two Deathclaw omelets to the town's new heroes. Boone poked at his omelet with his fork. The Courier elbowed him and took a bite.

"Mmm… This was definitely worth it."


	19. Call Me Irresponsible

Boone sat patiently by a camp site while Arcade expertly stitched a huge gash in his arm. He was trying to focus on something other than the stinging punctures, so he looked over to The Courier, who was bandaging her shin. She caught him looking at her and grinned at him secretively.

"So," Arcade said, still stitching. "When are you two going to tell me where this came from?"

Boone kept quiet, which Arcade expected, so he looked at the girl, who focused on her bandaging.

The doctor cleared his throat loudly. She looked at him and grinned innocently. "Just caught a little trouble on the way back to camp. Nothing major."

"Nothing major?" The doctor indicated the gigantic slice down Boone's arm. "I might have bought that if it was just this, but I pulled three bullets out of the two of you."

"Three? Where was the third?" The Courier asked.

"I did get hit in the leg," Boone spoke up.

The girl laughed. "I told you." The sniper ignored her smug tone.

"So what really happened?" Arcade wasn't going to let this go. He had a suspicion, and he needed to know the answer. He caught The Courier give Boone a secretive look before looking back at him with a fake smile.

"Don't worry about it. We made it back alive. No harm done." Her dismissive tone grated on the doctor. He pushed the needle a little harder than he meant to into Boone's arm, causing the man to wince.

"You went after a Legion raiding party, didn't you?" Arcade blurted out. Neither of them had to respond. The Courier's sheepish grin was all he needed. "You two are going to end up dead if you keep this up."

The Courier shrugged apologetically, but Arcade wasn't happy. "Are you looking to get yourselves killed? I'm not looking to follow around a couple of suicidal meatheads."

The Courier didn't seem to like that comment.

"Hey, come on. We saw a group. They were heading for Forlorn Hope. Did you want us to let the camp get attacked?"

Arcade scoffed. "It's a whole camp full of soldiers. It sounds more like the Legionnaires were stupid."

The Courier grinned. "Well that goes without saying."

"So why did you go after them? You were outnumbered, right?"

"Maybe a little."

"How much?"

He saw the girl look at the sniper, who looked thoughtful.

"At the end it was four-to-one, but-" He let out a hiss when Arcade stabbed into him again.

"Four-to-one?" The doctor looked indignant.

The Courier held up her hands.

"When we found them, it was only three-to-one, then it turned they had a few sneaking up on us."

That didn't seem to calm the doctor down in the least.

"Oh great, so it was only slightly stupid to go after them." He had gone back to stitching Boone's arm, trying to concentrate. "Do you know how often I have to pull bullets out of you two? And that's only when I'm with you. I'm sure there's a lot more when I'm not here."

Arcade caught the girl's nod out of the corner of his eye and frowned, stabbing the other man's arm again. The Courier had finished her bandaging and sat down next to them.

"Listen, we're not going to get ourselves killed by raiding parties. But you can't think letting them run around unchecked is a great idea either."

The doctor's frown grew.

"That doesn't mean you have to go running head first into a pack of them."

The girl shrugged.

"Stop worrying."

"Stop worrying!" He stabbed Boone again, finishing the stitching. As soon as he snipped the needle free, the sniper stood and walked off without a word. Arcade watched him go.

"What's his problem?"

* * *

We're hitting the home stretch, folks. I hope you've got all your shopping done, I know I haven't :s


	20. Powder Your Face with Sunshine

"This is a bad idea."

The Courier stopped and turned Boone. "What's a bad idea?"

The sniper stopped walking and fully faced the girl, who crossed her arms defiantly. "The Fiends are operating out of a vault. There's no way to sneak in. We're walking into a deathtrap."

"Fine. We'll just give up and leave that ranger to rot." The girl watched Boone's frown deepen. He took off his sunglasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. They were planning to march into the Fiend's home base to rescue an NCR ranger who had gone missing. They had promised Colonel Hsu that they'd look into it. He looked back up at the girl accusingly.

"Do you have a plan?"

The Courier grinned.

*.*.*

Spittle was seeing colors beyond colors when someone opened vault's main hatch. She marveled at the way the walls swayed when the portal opened and two people walked in. Either the shit she had taken was weak, or she'd finally built a tolerance to it, but she realized she didn't know who they were and sobered slightly.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Are you Khans? Do you have a shipment?" She glared bleary-eyed at them, trying to figure out why they existed. She knew something was wrong with the man. His hat was making her think of something.

"Hey!…wait a minute…" She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think. When she opened them again, the hat was gone, and the man looked angry. The woman was grinning.

"You bet we are. We've got a whole ass ton of drugs!"

"Great!" Spittle said, giggling a little. "Go bring them to Motor-Runner." The pair continued into the vault. Spittle forgot about them almost instantly, remembering instead that the cataclysm of beyond was sending her arachnid overlords for distribution.

*.*.*

"This is ridiculous," Boone growled as they walked through the hallways of Vault 3. The Fiends they passed barely noticed them. The Courier watched a man shooting Psycho between his toes and suddenly wished she had brought Veronica. The scribe would have found this place fascinating.

She looked over to her angry companion, who kept eyeing the pocket she had shoved his beret into. She hid her grin when she saw him looking, instead giving him her best business face.

"We've got to find Anders," she said.

Boone nodded as they stepped over a few Fiends writhing on the floor.

*.*.*

Screaming spiders crawled all over Pennywise as she slowly made her way to the living area of the vault. She'd scream, but she didn't want them to get into her mouth. She laughed, since they had come from her mouth anyway. She turned the corner and heard beeping, probably from the queen spider.

When she saw the frag mine at her feet, she knew she was right. That queen spider was a bitch.

*.*.*

The Courier was rounding a corner when she heard the beeping of a mine. She felt a hand close around her wrist and was violently jerked back around the corner as the explosion rattled the walls.

Boone released her arm as the dust started to settle. He looked around the corner carefully, machete gripped in one hand. The Courier peeked around his shoulder when he didn't move and found the exploded remains of a Fiend. She looked away from the body and down the hall. There was another mine further along.

She walked over, hand darting out. The beeping stopped as she disarmed the mine and scooped it up. She spun it in her hand and gave Boone the same smug look she usually gave him when she successfully recovered a mine.

"There's a trip wire…" Boone said, pointing out the wire strung across the doorway leading to the stairs.

The girl bent over and disarmed that trap as well, handing the sniper all of the grenades that had been attached. "Well, this has to be were Anders got to."

"Or these idiots booby trap their own hideout," Boone answered.

She wouldn't put it past them.

*.*.*

"What are you, crazy? No you can't take on the whole damn vault with a busted leg," The Courier admonished Ranger Anders as she finished bandaging his leg. They had indeed found him hiding in a room at the end of the booby trapped hall. He had been injured while scouting out the vault. The ranger looked annoyed at the girl's assessment, but then sagged, blowing out a breath.

"Shit, I know. Just do me a favor and kick that bastard's ass." The Ranger handed over a key to Boone.

"That's what we're here for." The Courier grinned. "Do you think you'll be okay to get out of here?"

The ranger scoffed, testing his weight on his injured leg. "Have you seen these people? I could run around here naked and on fire and no one would notice."

The girl laughed as the ranger gathered his things. A few minutes later, he was slowly creeping toward the exit, favoring his uninjured leg.

The Courier grinned at Boone. "Well, let's go find Motor-Runner."

*.*.*

Motor-Runner was scratching the head of one of his mutts when a hot piece of ass walked in. More like floated in, although that was probably the Jet. God, he hadn't fucked anyone in a long time. He leered at the girl openly. She gave him a wide-eyed look.

At first, he figured she was a Khan making a delivery, but she wasn't wearing their colors. Besides, she looked as much a drug runner as he looked an NCR ambassador. Probably didn't even touch Mentats.

The Fiend leader was thinking of the best way to get the girl high and take advantage when he finally noticed her companion, who was glaring at him. He figured he'd have to get rid of the guy first, then get the girl to party. It would be a tricky maneuver, but he'd done trickier to get a girl in bed.

"Yeah, we've got a shipment of… Oh, screw it. The NCR sent us to kill you," the girl said, crossing her arms over her chest. Motor-Runner frowned. Of course she was here to kill him. Heaven forbid she was a strip-o-gram or something. He shifted, getting himself ready to grab his chainsaw. He gave the girl one last leer and spoke.

"Well, shall we then?"

The girl shrugged, reaching for her gun. "Let's get to it then."

The room exploded into action a second later.

*.*.*

"Shit shit shit! Run run run!" The Courier yelled as she and Boone careened through the hallways of Vault 3. There were three Fiends and a dog on their heels. Boone covered them as The Courier clutched Motor-Runner's helmet in her arms. They turned a corner, and Boone called out to the girl as another Fiend joined the chase.

The girl clung tighter to the helmet, pumping her legs as hard as she could, not bothering to duck behind cover. Everyone in this place was bombed out of their minds, and terrible shots. A bullet pinged off the wall near her head, and she ran faster. Even terrible shots could get lucky.

She could see the opening to the vault and the woman guarding the door. The Fiend was already reaching for her shotgun when her head suddenly exploded. The Courier didn't bother to see if the shot had come from Boone and slammed her finger on door panel. The huge gear creaked as it began to slide open slowly.

The two squeezed through the opening as soon as they could fit. The Courier looked back and saw what looked like the whole Vault full of Fiends coming at them. She quickly hit the switch to close the door, then tossed a grenade through the shrinking gap, managing to land it near the inner control panel.

The explosion echoed through the closed door. The huge gear was now wedged at an odd angle into its frame. If they were lucky, the inner panel and most of the machinery would be heavily damaged. It would take time to get it open again.

The Courier gave Boone a wink and began strolling out of the building, helmet under her arm.

* * *

I hope you've enjoyed this one, I was rather fond of it. I'm off to Christmas Party #1!


	21. Bed of Roses

"_Stay out! The plants kill!"_

The message was hastily painted over the ancient, faded 'Welcome to Vault 22' sign.

"Well, I'm not going in there," said Cass.

"Oh, come on," said The Courier. "As long as we don't eat anything, we'll be fine." They had come to the abandoned Vault to collect the experimental agricultural data the Vault scientists had been working on. There had to be an incredible amount of information, given that the plants had grown all the way out of substructure to the surface. The sign they stood in front of was troubling, however. It would figure the only way to get growth this advanced would be to make the plants poisonous or something.

The Courier stooped down to examine a huge flower growing near the sign and frowned. Plant biology was not her strong suit. She wondered if Arcade would have any clue, but it was a non-issue. He was back at the 38. The girl pulled out her switchblade and started making cuts into the stalk of the flower.

Cass watched the younger girl, bored. She looked over to Boone, who was staring at the grass near the vault entrance. Judging by his stance, he saw something dangerous. He started moving for entrance, then stopped. 

A group of giant mantises popped out of the grass. The sniper was ready, and the closest mantis's head exploded. Cass and The Courier followed his lead, and the group quickly cleaned up the pack of giant insects.

The Courier grinned at the pile of mantis bodies and looked to Cass. "If this is all that's down there, this'll be a piece of cake. Let's go."

The former caravaneer shrugged and followed the girl and Boone into the Vault.

*.*.*

"This amount of unchecked growth is incredible. There are no natural resources in a Vault, but these things are growing at a crazy rate. If this process can be synthesized without any toxins, the whole world could be re-terraformed in only decades!" The Courier looked to her companions, who glanced at each other, then stared blankly back at her.

She stood, brushing off the pollen that permeated the Vault. She cleared her throat. "Well, why don't we keep looking for that data?" They continued, having found little more than giant mantises as they went.

Cass was bored out of her mind by the time they got to the second level. As they passed one of the science labs, she stopped to take a look inside.

The Courier really wished she knew more about the science behind the amazing growth in this Vault. But for now, she just examined the plants as they went. She knew she was boring her comrades and was actually eager to get to the data from the vault's computers.

"All right, let's…. Where's Cass?"

Boone, who had been sweeping the nearby rooms for hostiles, poked his head back in and shrugged.

"I thought she was with you."

The girl frowned, going to the hallway. "Cass? Where are you?" Not hearing an answer, The Courier grew concerned and started further down the hall. A patch of plants blocked her view of the next intersection. She took a closer look at the plants. Some were trampled. She started to push her way through the patch, figuring that Cass must have come this way . Before she took her first step into the plants, her eye caught a vibrant green shape in the foliage.

"What the _hell_?" The alarm in her tone caught Boone's attention, and he instinctively drew his rifle. He looked past her to see a green humanoid shape emerge from the plants, grabbing for The Courier. He tried to line up a shot, but the girl was in the way. He ran forward, slinging his rifle and drawing his machete.

The Courier dodged the green monster and backed away, reaching for her gun. The thing lurched at her again, and she just barely avoided it, tripping over her feet and falling over. She scrambled to her feet in time to see Boone reach the thing.

The girl scrambled to her feet as the sniper's machete tore a huge gash out of the creature. She heard a noise behind her and turned, thinking it might be Cass. Instead she was greeted by another plantlike humanoid.

"Shit!" She ducked under it's oncoming hands and ran down the hallway, finally getting her 10mm free. She turned and started firing at the creature as it chased her. She ran backwards as she fired, cursing as she went. With the last bullet in the clip, she blew a hole through the monster's head. It crumpled to the ground.

The Courier cautiously approached the thing, prodding it with her foot. It didn't move. She wanted to examine the thing further, but first needed to make sure Boone was all right. When she reached the intersection where she had last seen him, all she found was the body of the other creature.

"Boone?" she called out, and was met with silence. "Cass?" Her voice echoed down the hallway. She looked down at the creature, which Boone had managed to decapitate. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw the inner tissue of the monster. It looked human.

"Oh boy."

*.*.*

"HEY! Where are you two?" Cass yelled out, now definitely angry. She glowered as she wandered the halls. They were probably making out in a corner somewhere. She came to an intersection and saw another one of those plant patches. She glared at it, lighting a stick of dynamite and tossing it in as she passed. This place sucked.

*.*.*

Boone rounded another corner, looking for signs of either missing woman. Finding none, he continued, trying to figure out where they had run off to. He ran by a small alcove but doubled back, seeing an elevator. It looked like it had been recently repaired.

He hit the call button and waited. Based on how long it was taking, the elevator must have been coming up all the way from the bottom. When it arrived, he got on and rode it down to the fifth floor, labeled 'Pest Control.'

He had only taken a few steps out of the elevator when he heard a distant scream echo through the halls. It was impossible to tell where the sound came from, but when it was followed shortly by another, he took his best guess and ran off in that direction.

*.*.*

Plants with mouths. The Courier was surrounded by plants with _mouths_. And more spore carriers, of course. She ducked whatever the plants were spitting at her and shot wildly at the closest green humanoid. Three of the spore carries, as the Vault computers had called them, were closing in on her as she backed against a wall. Wishing she had grenades left, she quickly dug out her magnum and was leveling it at the closest of the monsters when a stick of dynamite landed between her and the group.

The Courier ducked down, covering her head with her arms as the explosion ripped through the monsters. She looked up to see Cass glaring at her.

"Where the hell have you been?" the older woman said as the younger stood back up.

"Me? You're the one who-"

"Hey? Someone human out there?" a voice floated out of a small passage. The Courier followed the voice, and Cass heard the girl shriek again. Charging toward the passage, she found The Courier apologizing profusely as she helped a ghoul to her feet.

"It's okay! Calm down," the ghoul said to the furiously blushing girl. Cass stifled the laugh bubbling in her throat. She heard loud, fast footfalls and turned to see Boone, machete drawn, burst into the area. He saw the three women, then the remains of the plant creatures.

"You okay?"

The Courier nodded at his question, still blushing.

"Let's go to my base of operations," said the ghoul. "I can tell you what's going on."

*.*.*

"Wait, _what?_" Cass said, angrier than before as the ghoul, Keely, finished her explanation of the Vault.

"Yeah, you're all infected with the spore. If we don't eliminate it, it will turn you into a carrier." The Courier looked like she was going to be ill. Boone looked grim.

"So, how do we get rid of it?"

"Well," Keely said, "I can pump gas through the vents in Pest Control, where the spores originate. If you can ignite it from there, it will burn away all the spores."

Cass saw The Courier's face light up at that idea. Keely continued. "You need to ignite the gas at the source. Any kind of explosive should do the trick. I'll be waiting here."

Cass and Boone looked at each other, then at The Courier, who looked back at them carefully.

"I need to borrow a grenade… or maybe dynamite."

*.*.*

Boone was trying very hard to be calm as The Courier tore out of the small room where he and Cass were waiting. How the girl had managed to talk them both into this was beyond him, but there he stood, waiting for her to set the entire floor on fire. He heard her call back to them, letting them know she was about the throw the grenade.

"Just hurry up and do it!" Cass shouted back at her, hand hovering over the door controls. Boone heard the clanking of a grenade on the metal floor, then The Courier's rapid running. Just as the brunette was visible in the doorway, the grenade went off. Boone reached forward and grabbed the girl, pulling her into the room while Cass slapped the door controls.

The room got incredibly hot as the rest of the floor was immolated. Cass blew out a breath as the heat and noise died down. She looked over to the other two, who were untangling themselves from each other on the floor.

"Shit, will you two get a room?"

The Courier turned red at the comment and quickly stood, turning away from the other two and trying to look like she was examining a computer console against the wall. After a moment, she actually did look at the machine and laughed.

"This is the mainframe."

*.*.*

"Do you really want that idiot Hildern to have the information that made all this possible?" Keely said. She hadn't been happy to find out the girl had downloaded the Vault's research notes onto her Pip-Boy. The Courier made a face, then sighed.

"No… Get rid of it." She held her Pip-Boy up to the ghoul, who tinkered with it for a moment.

She got no complaints from her companions.


	22. Just One of Those Things

Cass checked her gun, making sure it was loaded and ready to go. She and The Courier were hunting down a Fiend. The younger girl's face had been priceless when they had asked her to bring back the head as proof. Cass understood their reasoning, even if it was a little gruesome. She looked at the girl, who marched on with a grim look on her face.

They were rounding the corner of a destroyed building when the girl slowed, eyes wandering to her Pip-Boy. She held a hand up, and Cass drew her gun.

"Looks like three or four of them," the younger woman said, reading her motion sensor. They had just reached another busted up building when a shot rang out, striking a plank of wood near The Courier's head.

She dropped down, taking cover behind the house's remains. Cass crouched behind her and spotted the group of Fiends.

"There," she said, taking a shot at one of them. It went wide, and both sides opened fire.

"So what's with you and Boone?" Cass asked as they exchanged fire. The younger woman turned to her, eye wide and incredulous.

"Really? Right now we're going to talk about this?" A shot pinged off the wood they were hiding behind, and the girl turned back to the fire fight, managing to take down one of the Fiends.

"You didn't answer my question…"

The girl shook her head, missing her next shot. She hunkered down further to reload her pistol.

"Well?" Cass coaxed, taking another shot. She wounded one, but he kept firing back.

"I… Christ, Cass, I don't know. I like him…" She peeked around the wall and took a quick shot at what looked like the leader, grazing his stupid headdress.

"'Like him?'"

"You know what I mean," the younger girl said tartly. Cass shot the head off another Fiend.

"So when are you going to tell him?"

The Courier caught the Fiend leader in the abdomen, downing him. "Never. Let's just drop it."

Cass shrugged, gunning down the last of their attackers. She looked over the area carefully, then holstered her gun. The two women looted the bodies and moved on, mostly in silence.

They reached the group of rusted trailers and crumbling shacks where they'd been told to find Violet, their target. The Courier scanned the area, not spotting any movement. She was sure she-

Her thoughts were interrupted by barking.

"Crap. Dogs." She looked around and saw a low-hanging beam that lead to the roof of one of the buildings. She jumped, grabbing the beam and pulling herself up. She got to the roof by the time the first dog reached them. She gave Cass covering fire as the other woman climbed up to join her and managed to take down two of the dogs.

Cass kicked one of the dogs as it jumped at her foot, then reached the top of the shack. "So why don't you tell him."

The Courier fired three shots, taking out another dog. She was getting annoyed, and her shooting was more erratic. "I… He's got enough to worry about without me complicating things."

Cass shot the last dog as it tried to scratch its way up the wall. "Sounds like an excuse to me."

"Listen," The Courier sounded stern. "I'm not going to go and make his life any harder than it already is. Okay?" The older woman threw her hands up. The Courier opened her mouth to speak when a bullet ripped across her arm.

"Shit!" She dropped to her stomach and rolled over. Violet had surfaced, and was apparently angry at the death of her dogs. Cass jumped down and advanced on the Fiend, firing as she went. The Courier sniped from the roof.

After a short exchange, the two women approached Violet's corpse. The Courier was holding a rag to her bleeding arm, while Cass was miraculously unharmed. She bent down to the corpse, pulling out her big knife.

"Listen to me," The former caravaneer said, looking up briefly to the girl before she began sawing at the Fiend's neck. "It's a harsh world we live in. You can't go around holding back on things. Do you really want to miss out on an opportunity because you hesitated?"

The girl was giving her an incredulous look, so Cass continued. "There's nothing wrong with grabbing for something good when you're lucky enough to find it in this shitty world. So do it." With that, she ripped the Fiend's head off.

The Courier looked between the severed head and Cass, shaking her head.

* * *

It's my editor/husband's birthday. Happy Birthday, editor/husband! :D


	23. Lily of the Valley

Lily Bowen smiled serenely as she strolled down the street. Her granddaughter walked just a little ahead of her with Jerry, that nice boy from up the street. Lily couldn't help but smile as her youngest grandchild giggled while talking to her companion. She was obviously sweet on the boy.

It was a wonderfully pleasant day. The neighbors were all out, waving and smiling as they went. Buster, their dog, ran around yapping happily. They approached a group of people, who were chatting amongst themselves.

As they got closer, some of the people turned, smiling and waving to them. Lily waved back, but noticed her granddaughter look nervous. Sweet thing, so shy. One of the group pulled out something from his coat and waved it towards them. She saw Jerry reach over his shoulder for his sniper rifle, then quickly shoot the man coming at them with a lead pipe-

*.*.*

Lily continued on their walk, happy to be out and about. Seemed like all she did now-a-days was stay home, tending to the sheep and baking pies. She was only too glad to chaperone the two children as they went on their walk.

Spring certainly seemed to bring out the good in people, between the smiling folks they passed and her granddaughter's shyness around her little friend. It did her heart good to see such sweet, young love.

She heard Buster growling and turned, expecting to have to scold him for bothering the neighbor's cat again. Jerry was running after the dog, and her granddaughter was quickly digging in her bag. The youngster produced a magnum and started shooting at the nightstalkers that almost overwhelmed the cyberdog. Lily roared and ran at the creatures, swinging her huge buster sword. The first creature's skull imploded-

*.*.*

They passed a young woman leading a cow along the road. The children stopped to talk with her a moment. Buster yapped at the cow.

"LEAVE THE POOR COW ALONE!" she admonished the dog, who backed away. The children were trading something with the young woman, probably baseball cards or candy. Soon they were walking down the street again.

It was getting late, but the old woman didn't have the heart to tell the children to head back yet. They were having too much fun. They were rounding a bend in the road when Lily heard beeping, then a loud bang. She looked over to the children and saw that her granddaughter had fallen down. Poor dear must have fallen and skinned her knee.

The girl was holding her bleeding leg and trying to hold back tears. Jerry was at her side with a bandage, an endearing look of concern on his face. Soon the boy bandaged her leg and helped her up, the girl leaning on him. The poor girl was a bit accident prone, not surprising with her small frame.

"Poor dear," Lily said, walking up to the two. She bent down and scooped up the injured child in her arms. "Let's go home, Sweetheart." Both the girl and Jerry looked like they were going to protest, but gave up quickly when they saw Grandma wouldn't have the girl walk home hurt. So they started back home, Buster following behind, wagging his tail.


	24. Straighten Up and Fly Right

The Courier hummed to herself as she worked on ED-E at her campsite. The robot had taken some damage when they ran afoul of some Vipers. She unscrewed his access plate and found the damaged wires. Soon they were replaced and the girl reinitiated the eyebot's systems.

The robot chirped and started to hover, and The Courier gently grabbed it and pulled it back to her. It made a whirring noise of protest.

"Sorry, but you probably don't want all your insides falling out."

The robot beeped softly as the girl began reattaching its casing.

"I bet you've seen all kinds of weird stuff over the years," the girl said absentmindedly as she lined up the screws. "I bet you haven't seen anything as messed up as this."

She heard a howl in the night and looked up. Rex's head came up, and the dog scanned the area. ED-E bucked in her hands and got free, swiveling in the direction of the noise. After a moment, it sputtered and fell. The Courier quickly jumped up and caught it.

"See? Now let me finish." She continued tinkering with the robot, her mind wandering.

"What am I going to do? Sooner or later I'm going to have to come to a decision." She looked off into the desert before her, frowning. "And then what? I'm going to end up with some unhappy people no matter what I do."

"Arcade wants me to support Independent New Vegas, but I don't think he likes House anymore than I do. And I know he's not telling me something…" With the last screw in place, she examined the eyebot for a moment, spotting another puncture in its casing. She pulled ED-E back over to her.

"I don't think Lily cares what I do… but I don't think she's taking all her medication, which isn't exactly heartening," she continued to the robot, who beeped intermittently at her. "Raul just wants me to do what I think is right, but I don't know what that is."

The panel was in her hands, freed from the eyebot's frame. She stared at it a moment before looking for the damage the bullet caused.

"Cass is okay with sending the Van Graffs and that witch from the Crimson Caravan up the river. Which is good, because I wasn't about to shoot up a place full of heavily armed energy weapon junkies." She found the bullet, which, miraculously, didn't seem to have caused any damage. She replaced the casing.

"Veronica isn't sure about her future with the Brotherhood. I can't blame her for worrying about them. If they keep up what they're doing, they're going to be wiped out by the NCR or someone else eventually." She examined the robot one last time. He seemed to be in good working order, so The Courier started putting her tools away.

"Speaking of the NCR, I've got no clue what I'm going to do with Boone," she said to ED-E, who hovered near Rex. "I… I guess... Shit, I don't know." She kicked her heels up on the rock next to her.

"Everyone's got their own problems to think about, and beyond that we have to deal with the coming war. All I know is they're my friends, so I'll help them out anyway I can." Her eyes started to get droopy and she leaned back on her pack. "Then we'll kick those asshole Legionaries out of here." She drifted off into a doze as the fire hypnotized her.

*.*.*

"Quit with the arguing. She had ED-E and Rex with her. She was fine," The Courier heard Veronica say as she drifted back to consciousness. She didn't open her eyes for a moment.

"I'm surprised she wasn't kidnapped by slavers. I mean, come on, we left her alone _five minutes _and she managed to fall asleep!" said Cass. The Courier could hear the jiggle of a bottle of liquid sloshing. Probably whiskey.

"You know, I used to sleep all by myself in the Mojave," the girl said, sitting up. "Didn't even have a robotic dog or an eyebot with sensors that could pick up a mouse from a hundred yards."

Cass made a sour face. "Yeah, well I think you're getting soft in the head."

"Oh quit fighting! Besides," Veronica gave The Courier a toothy grin. "You were just about to make dinner, right?"

The shorter girl laughed. "Yes. I guess I was."

Cass threw her hands up and sat, giving up on the argument.


	25. Nuclear Winter Wonderland

"Hey! Wake up!"

The Courier opened her eyes and turned slightly, face still smushed by her pillow. Veronica was standing over her, hands on her hips.

"What?" the shorter girl said, eyes starting to drift closed.

"Wake up!" The scribe gave her a shake, which made the girl's eyes snap open.

"What?"

"It's a week from Christmas. Do we have any plans?"

The Courier looked at her with one eye open.

"What? No. Does the Brotherhood even celebrate Christmas?"

"No." Veronica crossed her arms over her chest. "Which is why we should, because I don't get to at home."

"Fine, fine, we'll have a meeting about it." The girl put her face back in her pillow.

*.*.*

"Does anyone here even celebrate Christmas?" Arcade asked, frowning across the table at the rest of the group assembled in the dining room. Veronica had given The Courier fifteen minutes before she bodily dragged the girl out of her bed.

"OF COURSE WE DO!" Lily bellowed, making half the room jump in their seats. "FIG PUDDING, CHRISTMAS TREES, PEACE ON EARTH! IT'S SUCH A LOVELY SEASON."

"We used to, before the war," Raul said. "I haven't since my sister died."

"My parents and I used to do Secret Gift," Cass said. "You draw names, and whoever's name you get, you give them a gift."

"Oh! Let's do that!" Veronica said, grinning.

"Carla and I used to…" Boone said quietly, then looked like he regretted speaking. The room got quiet for a moment. Then The Courier opened her mouth to break the silence. Lily beat her to it.

"I CAN MAKE CHRISTMAS COOKIES!"

"All right!" Veronica said, nearly bouncing in her seat. "You've gotta make something good for dinner, too!" She looked over to The Courier, who put a finger on her chin.

"Well, I've been looking for an excuse to make that Brahmin Wellington recipe I found."

"Found?" Cass said. "Where did you find it?"

The Courier's eyes shifted from side to side, remembering the kitchen of the Ultra-Luxe. "Um… trader … traded it. Yup."

The former caravaneer gave her a look. Then Arcade spoke up. "Isn't this a waste of caps? We're on a budget, you know. There's a war about to happen. We need supplies."

"Pfft," The Courier laughed, "House just gave me two thousand caps for a snow globe."

"Oh," the doctor said, "Well then, Merry Christmas."

*.*.*

Cass was slowly spinning her revolver on her finger, feet kicked up on the dining room table. When she heard a crash from the elevator, she jumped and nearly pulled the trigger. Rushing out to the hallway, she marveled at what she saw.

Lily was dragging a huge evergreen tree into the suite. Victor had rolled over to help her carry it in. They placed it at the end of the hall.

"Lily… what is this?" Cass sputtered.

"IT'S A CHRISTMAS TREE, SILLY."

"Where did you get it?"

"JACOBSTOWN. NOW BE A DEAR AND HELP ME TRIM THE TREE!"

Cass gave her an incredulous look, then shrugged and put her revolver away. She walked over to the huge tree and tried to help get it in place.

*.*.*

"We need to pick names for the gift swap thingy!" Veronica said the next morning at breakfast, "We're going to need time to get gifts, wrap them, all that."

The Courier grinned, and sprang up from her chair. "Hold on, I'll go get some paper!" She abandoned her meal and ran out to the hall. A few moments later she was back and began writing down names on scraps of paper.

"Give that here," Cass said.

The younger girl gave her a perplexed look. "Why?"

"Because, I don't want you cheating." The older woman nabbed the papers, looking them over and ignoring the younger girl's incredulous look. "My father one year switched all the names so everyone got his name."

"All right," said The Courier. "Now we need a hat or a bowl or something."

Everyone looked at Boone, who was the only one wearing a hat at the moment. He leaned back a little in his chair, preparing to bolt for the elevator. The Courier slowly nodded to Veronica, who was closest to him. Just as the room was about to snap into chaos, Raul produced a sack from the kitchen.

"Here we go." Cass dumped the names in the sack while Veronica and The Courier pouted. Soon the bag was being passed around the group, each taking a folded scrap of paper.

"Now, you all have to get a present for the name you pulled," Cass said, "And no telling who you got."

Once everyone had picked a name, the group dispersed. Cass walked up to Raul, who had lingered in the room. They watched as The Courier approached Boone, and the two started talking.

"Did they get each other?" the woman asked.

Raul chuckled a little, happy that his sleight of hand had gone unnoticed.

"Yep."

*.*.*

"CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR CHARITY AND GOOD WILL TO ALL," Lily was saying to Veronica as she, The Courier, and Arcade carried bags over their shoulders. They had just reached the doors of the Old Mormon Fort.

"Why don't they give more generously all the time?" Arcade said, sarcastically. Lily didn't seem to hear him.

"THIS IS THE SEASON WHEN PEOPLE ARE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT THEY HAVE, AND HELP OTHERS WHO ARE LESS FORTUNATE."

As they opened the door to the fort, The Courier caught sight of Julie Farkas and waved her over. The Follower of the Apocalypse smiled at the group and walked over.

"Do you need something?"

"Nope, but we have something for you." The Courier opened her sack, which was full of Med-X. The others opened their sacks of medicine and medical supplies.

"What's all this for?" Farkas sputtered.

"Good will!" Veronica said, nearly bouncing in her shoes. "And Merry Christmas!"

*.*.*

"You'll do it because I asked, won't you?" The Courier practically purred at the man before her.

"Baby, that's a tall order…" Swank adjusted his tie nervously. "I don't know if everyone'll go for it."

"Think of all the publicity. People will remember this." The girl leveled her best smile at the man. "And I'd really appreciate it." Any thoughts of protest seemed to fade, and the casino boss grinned back at the girl.

"All right, baby, but only because it's you. This'll take some time to put together."

The Courier smiled easily. "I'd get to it. Christmas is in a few days."

"Oh great baby, tell me to put on a free Christmas show for any NCR soldiers who show up and then tell me to hurry up about it." Swank didn't stop smiling.

"I knew you could handle it." The Courier grinned. "Thanks, Swank." She winked and walked back to Raul, who was waiting by the door.

"You know what, Boss? You're scary when you want something."

The girl grinned at him. "I only use my powers for good."

"Oh, sure thing, Boss."

*.*.*

"Merry Christmas, Rex!" The Courier was grinning from ear-to-ear at the cyberdog, who gave her a puzzled look in return.

"First…" The girl pulled a Brahmin bone from the fridge and tossed it to him. The dog barked happily before tearing into the bone. The Courier smiled. "You'll like this one even better. Who wants a new brain?"

She reached back into the fridge and pulled out a container, showing the dog. As she did, Veronica walked in.

"EWWW! Is that a _brain?" _The scribe looked like she was going to be ill. The Courier put the container back in the fridge.

"Yes, its' his early Christmas present. We're going to Jacobstown to get it installed tomorrow. Right boy?" The dog yapped happily at her. Veronica sat down at the table, turning a sickly green shade.

"Oh, come on. You're such a wuss," The Courier admonished.

*.*.*

ED-E floated through the halls, Radio New Vegas's Christmas Day programming blaring from his speakers. He had recently received his gift, new casing plates and a metal polish. The robot looked brand new. The Courier sang along with the radio as she finished wrapping the Brahmin steaks in dough.

"Stop cooking for five minutes!" Veronica hollered from the other room. "It's present time!"

The Courier stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Do you want to eat tonight or not?"

"Yes! But come ON! I want presents!" The scribe was practically glowing, and the shorter girl grinned, despite herself. She put the beef into the oven and ran into the hall.

"All right, I'm coming."

Soon everyone was gathered in the living area with their gifts. Veronica was bouncing on her seat.

"Do we get to open them now?"

"Yeah, but-" The Courier said quickly before Veronica could tear into her gift. "One at a time, oldest to youngest."

"Oh that's just cruel!" The scribe said.

Cass grinned at her. "Too bad. Who's the oldest?"

"That's me," Raul said, ignoring Veronica's glare. He slowly unwrapped his present on purpose, hearing the girl whine while he did so.

*.*.*

Veronica beamed at her new power fist, Pushy. "Thanks, Grandma!" she said to Lily, who smiled back at her as the scribe tried it on.

"And finally, our youngest," Cass said, indicating The Courier.

The Courier smiled at her friends. Half were goofing around with their gifts, and half were looking at her in anticipation. She noticed Boone look up from the anti-material rifle she had found for him, which he had disassembled and was slowly piecing back together.

"Well, go on," Cass said, already slurring from the bottle of Jake's Juice she had received from Arcade.

The girl smiled again and started unwrapping the Sunset Sarsaparilla labels they had used as wrapping paper. Inside the small box was a silver .44 magnum covered in beautiful etching with a pearl handle. She looked over to Boone, who had gone back to his rifle, carefully sliding the components back together.

*.*.*

Dinner was eaten, and the group meandered into their own spaces. The Courier had just finished the dishes and headed for her room. She sat on her couch and examined her new gun, smiling. She heard a knock and looked up to see Boone in the doorway.

"Uh," he looked a little uncomfortable, "thank you."

The Courier smiled. "No, thank you." She held up her new gun. "This thing's so neat! Where did you find it?"

The sniper grinned a little. "Bought it off that cowboy you conned into working at The Tops." The Courier laughed a little, then Boone continued. "Where did you find mine? How did you carry it?"

The girl gave him a look. "I'm not that weak." He stared at her blankly, and she scowled. "Lily carried it for me."

The sniper gave her a hard-to-read look. "Well… thanks."

"Merry Christmas, Boone," The Courier said, smiling.

The sniper smiled back.

"Merry Christmas, Layla."

* * *

I hope you've all enjoyed this series, I'm amazed I finished the whole thing. Thank you all for your kind reviews, and thanks again go to my editor, who helped make this possible. Oh, and stay tuned, I'll more than likely write a Dead Money story. That won't be for a little bit, I'm a little burnt on writing :S. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :) _Note: You may have noticed I changed the Courier's name...well, I did. _


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